Blackjacks Story
by ReaperHunter000
Summary: Blackjack winds up in Jasper Park after a failed suicide attempmt. He has a serious case of amnesia and can only remember that he is an Alpha. He is allowed into the pack, as long as he attends alpha duties with Hutch and Candu. But Hutch bears an old grudge for outsiders. When the sanity of everyone gets put to the test by a wolf named Lexus, will they survive? Small plot change
1. Introducing, Blackjack

**Chapter 1: Intoducing, Blackjack**

I wasn't going to lose much. I had no family, no friends, no life. I was a ghost trapped in purgatory, and I was about to set myself free. I would end all the pain, the suffering, the loneliness. I looked down over the cliff and sighed dully. I thought back as to why it had all came to this.

I grew up, basically alone all my life, or from what I can remember anyway. I think it was 8 months before I was accepted into a pack. It was a very large pack in the eastern part of Maine, I think there were over 60 wolves in it. They were usually friendly, at least most of them were. I had no idea what my name was, so they named me Midas. I also didn't know if I was an alpha, or an omega, so they sent me to alpha school, which I passed fairly easily.

But, that all changed one day during my second summer there. I was off hunting solo, when I smelled smoke. I ran as fast as I could back to the pack, but I was too late. They had all been burned alive by a forrest fire that had just narrowly missed me. All of the friends I had made, the family I loved, all gone.

Eventually I made my way north into Canada. I spent another 5 months with a smaller pack who also cared for me. I was about 3 at the time, and I fell in love with a beautiful alpha named Alexa. It was the day of our wedding and nothing could bring me down. My friends took me out to celebrate before the ceremony when we were jumped by a bunch of rougue alphas. I tried to protect Alexa, but I wasn't able to. They pinned me, and forced me to watch them rape her, and then kill her.

I was devastated. For 9 days I didn't eat a single bite of food, I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to live without Alexa. I stubled around aimlessly for what felt like 2 weeks before I ran into the pack of alphas that killed Alexa. I watched how careless and violent they were around each other, so I did them a favor. I put them all out of their misery, I killed them all for killing my bride. The one who raped her, I broke his legs and layed him on the train tracks, then waited for the train.

After that, whenever I would be accepted into a pack something bad would happen and again I wound up a loner. In the end though, I just guessed it was me that was causing all of these problems.

And now as I stood on the top of this cliff and looked over the edge I felt somehow secure. Ther would be no more pain for anyone, I felt that this was the only way out. So I reared back as if I was about to pounce, stretching my muscles as hard as I could. Then, I jumped.

The fall was at least 200 feet straight down do the rocks waiting below. I tried to steer myself away from the water and aim straight for the biggest rock I could see. I closed my eyes tightly so I wouldn't know when I hit. Then I felt the impact like ton of bricks against my head, and then I felt nothing.

***3 days later***

I opened my eyes slowly to the sight of an all white room. I just knew I was dead. I tried to walk forward but I bumped my head against something. I shook my head and looked up to see a bunch of bars in front of me. I looked around to discover that I was in a room. There were animals all around the room, also in cages, with badages on various parts of their bodies. I started to ask where I was but a human walked in with a smile on his face.

"Morning buddy, good to see your finally awake," he said happily as he lowered himself to the cage.

"How's he doing," asked another human entering the room.

"He's finally awake," the first replied. The woman knealt down and smiled at me and gave me a wave.

"Morning Blackjack," she said cheerfully.

'Blackjack, that's not my name, is it,' I asked myself. I thought that it wasn't anyway. Maybe it was. I tried my best to think but I couldn't remember anything.

"Looks like he's recovered enough to be released," said a third human as he stepped in.

"Yea, go get the truck started so he can go get used to his new home," the woman said to the third man. He nodded and walked out of the room as did the woman leavnig the first man sitting in front of my cage.

"You're lucky to be alive buddy, you fell off a cliff and hit your head hard against the water. But there's a pack in this park that you will like, we're going to take you there right now," he smiled and opened the cage door slowly. I wanted to go bursting out as fast as I could, but I didn't. Actually it was more like I couldn't. My legs were completely numb, just like everything else.

The man reached in and picked me up slowly and carefully. He seemed very nice, and he pet my side as he carried me out of the room and out to a wating cage. This cage was smaller but it was still big enough for me to lay down comfortably in. He closed the door and picked the cage up to carry me outside to a waiting truck.

He sat me in the back and made sure the cage was secure before going to get inside. I heard the door close and instantly felt the truck lurch forward. I just layed there in silence trying to remember anything before I woke up. But the last thing I remember was a splitting pain in my head, and then nothing. The only thing I knew was my name was Blackjack and I was lucky to be alive.

The ride wasn't too long. After a few minutes the truck stopped and I heard the doors open. I felt the cage lift up and be sat gently on the ground. The door opened and to my surprise, I was able to dart off as fast as I could. I ran as fast and hard as I could, for as long as I could. The sun was high and bright, keeping the air as hot as it could. My legs began to burn insanely and I was panting like crazy but eventually I had to give in to my exhaustion.

"So... tired... must... rest..." I panted as I sat down beside a stream to drink. I lapped up as much water as I could, it was nice and cold which made me want to dive in. But I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself.

"Where am I," I asked myslef as I looked around. None of the scenery looked familiar. The only thing I could think to do was to find someone and ask for help. After all the humans did say that there was a pack near here. I stood up slowly and started to walk off when I haerd the bushes behind me rustle lightly. I turned around quickly but saw nothing.

"Hello," I asked softly. No reply.

"I guess I hit my head pretty hard," I said as I walked off. I walked around pointlessly for what felt like an hour and still didn't see any wolves. I was begining to doubt whether there actually was a pack out here. Then I found a large sign next to a road.

"Jasper Park," I read aloud. At least I knew where I was. I walked beside the road for at least 10 minutes before I picked up a wonderful scent. I may not have remembered much but I knew one thing, I was close to a herd of caribou.

"Hope I still remember how to hunt," I said as I creeped through the bushes. I made my way to the edge of a clearing where there were caribou all over the place. I started to drool at the sight of them and crouched down to creep through the tall grass. I got close to the biggest buck I could find and readied myself to attack. I grit my fangs and let my claws grip into the ground to make sure they were sharp. It was go time. I pushed myself forward withnmy back legs and porpelled myself towards the large buck.

"Not so fast," I heard someone shout from beside me. I started to ignore them but felt something slam into my side. I hit the ground with a thud and the startled caribou darted off in a flash. The next thing I knew there was a set of claws at my throat and there was a black and grey wolf standing over me growling deeply.

"What do you think you're doing," he barked. I growled and tried to force my way free but he pressed me down and I just sigeh in defeat.

"I was trying to figure out where I was and I got hungry," I replied. He didn't really seem to believe me and he forced me to my feet.

"Alpha or omega," he asked, somehow I managed to reply.

"Alpha," I replied almost instinctively.

"What's your name," he ordered.

"Blackjack," I huffed back. He looked at me suspiciously for a second and then nodded.

"Follow me, I'm taking you to my pack leader, he can decide what to do with you, if you try to run, I will kill you," he said as he started to walk off. I decided to follow him, so I didn't get killed. I had only been here an hour and I was off to a poor start.

Please R&R.


	2. Welcome to Jasper

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Jasper**

I followed the wolf through the forrest for about five minutes before I finally started seeing more wolves. The all stared at me as I was led towards a hill with a stone path leading up to a den. I felt like I was being led to my death, and I probably was. Outside of the den sat two wolves looking off into distance, completely oblivios to us. The male's fur was completely grey and he sat to the right of a female with tan fur.

"Sir," said the wolf who was in front of me. The older male turned around slowly to see us and semi-smiled.

"Hutch, I'm asuming that wolf behind you is the reason your here," he asked.

"Yes sir, he says that he is an alpha named Blackjack, and he can't remember anything other than that," Hutch said. I rolled my eyes at him, I could have explained it just as easily.

"Thank you Hutch, you may return to your alpha duties," said the older male. Hutch nodded and walked off without another word, leaving me alone with two wolves I had never met before.

"Now then, why are you here," the male demanded. I honestly didn't know what to tell him. All I knew was that I woke up and didn't know who I was and the next thing I knew I was here.

"The humans brought me here," I told him and technically it was true.

"Why," he asked.

"I don't know, all I know is I woke up in a cage, the humans said my name was Blackjack, I was lucky to be alive, and then they put me here, that's all," I said honestly. It really was all I knew, so he couldn't say I lied.

"Do you remember where you are from," he asked starting to look me over.

"Nope," I replied shaking my head.

"Do you know where you are now,"

'Man this guy is full of questions,' I thought to myself.

"Jasper Park," I replied.I just waited for him to ask me another question I didn't know the answer to, but instead he looked to the female.

"What do you think Eve," he asked. She looked at me suspiciously for a minute, walking around me, looking me dead in the eyes then she looked to him.

"We could use all the help we can get, we have been short on alpha's lately, I say we put him with Hutch and Candu so they can keep an eye on him, at least until we know we know we can trust. And if he tries anything funny we can always just tie him to two big rocks and puch them off two different sides of a cliif," she said with a smirk and walked back into the den. The male walked over to me and nodded.

"Consider yourself lucky, you may stay here as long as you like, but if you bring harm to anyone in this pack, we will kill you," he said as a very short wolf with black and grey fur walked up.

"Candu just who I wanted to talk to, this is our new pack member Blackjack, you and Hutch are to watch after him for now, let Hutch know and put him to alpha duties immediately, I will explain everything later" he ordered. Candu opened his mouth to object but decided it was best not to.

"Yes sir," he said. He motioned for me to follow him and so I did. He seemed like he was pretty upset to be doing this but he spoke to me.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet my name is Candu, I'm an alpha and if you ever make fun of my size I'll tear your throat out. If Winston says we can let you into the pack you must not be that bad, so I'll try to take it easy on you, don't expect that kind of generosity from Hutch," he said with a slight laugh.

"Hutch doesn't seem that bad, he only tried to cut my throat out," I laughed. Candu laughed and shook his head.

"He tends to over-react sometimes, but you get used to him,"

Me and Candu walked around and talked for a while. He told me about the pack and how they allowed alpha's and omega's to become mates. I still wasn't sure on the whole alpha and omega thing, all I knew was I was an alpha and that was a pretty good thing. He told me about the war they almost had and just about anything else I needed to know around the pack. When we found Hutch he was walking through the forrest alone, Candu told me they didn't have many alphas so patrols were usualy solo.

"Hey Hutch, I need to talk to you," Candu called out. Hutc turned around and smiled at Candu but then frowned when he saw me.

"What's up Candu," he asked apporaching us.

"Winston wants me and you to watch after Blackjack and put him through alpha duties," Candu said. Hutch just looked over at me and continued to frown.

"Fine, their almost over now, he can start tomorrow," Hutch said as he turned around to resume his patrol.

"I'll catch you when my patrol is over Candu," he said as he walked off.

"Well someone was happy to see me," I laughed as he walked out of earshot. Candu laughed and nodded.

"Yea, well, I hate to run, but I need to go talk to Winston, I'll see you when I get back. For now just go around and meet everyone," Candu said as he turned to walk off. I nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. Candu was right, if I was going to stay here I should get to know everyone. The first wolves I ran into were a grey and tan couple, that amost reminded me of Winston and Eve. I felt bad interrupting their walk so I turned to walk off but they stopped me.

"Hello there," said the female nicely as they approached me. I turned and acted like I hadn't noticed them before.

"Oh, hello," I said turning to them.

"I don't think we've ever seen you around here, what's your name," she asked.

"I'm Blackjack, and yea I'm new, I just got here a few hours ago," I replied.

"Well it's nice to meet you Blackjack, I'm Kate and this is my mate Humphrey. I'm an alpha and he's an omega, what about you," she asked curiously, not letting poor Humphrey say a word.

"I'm an alpha, whatever that means," I said with a shrug. They both looked at me in confusion.

"How do you not know what that means," Humphrey asked.

"All I can remember is waking up in a cage, being brought here by some humans, and getting brought to Winston and Eve by Hutch. Other that it's all a blur," I said with a shrug. They just looked at me for a second, unsure of what to say, but finally Kate spoke up.

"Well, since you're going to be staying here, would you like us to show us around," Kate asked.

"Sure," I replied with a smile. It felt good to know I was making a few friends. They showed me around, introducing me to a few wolves, who stared at me at first but then lightened up and talked to me.

Humphrey intorduced me to his friends Saltey, Shakey, and Mooch as well as a sport they called 'log sledding'. I'm not much of a fan. Kate showed me where the alphas hang out after their duties and where the moonlight howl was held. She told me that the moonlight howl was in a few days and said that I should try and find a date.

"You should take someone. It's really fun and a great way to make an impression," she said as she led me up the hill.

"I'm not sure, I don't really know anyone yet," I said with a shrug.

"Don't worry, you still have four days to find somebody, besides your a pretty nice guy, and you look great, it shouldn't be too hard," she said with a slight giggle. I blushed at the compliment and looked away.

"Thanks," I said.

"If you want I can talk to some of the girls around the pack and try to hook you up," Kate offered as we made our way back down the hill.

"Yeah, I could really use the help, at least for now anyway,"

"I'm happy to help you, and just to let you know there is an open den near the hunting valley. Since you have alpha duties with Hutch and Candu you should take it because you will be hunting in the morning," she said with a quick wink as Candu and Hutch approached us.

"Blackjack, we need to talk," Hutch said with less irritation in his voice.

"I'll talk to you in the morning Blackjack, don't let Hutch get to you, he's just mad because I beat him out in hunting today," Kate whispered with a luagh before she rushed off.

"What is it," I asked as I sat in front of the two.

"I just wanted to let you know that we start hunting early, so be sure to be up and ready near sunrise," Hutch said. He spoke much more calmly than he did earlier. Candu must've been talking to him for him to change moods that quickly.

"You know if you want you can sleep in my den until you find one of your own," Candu offered.

"That's alright, Kate told me about a den near the hunting grounds that was open," I replied.

"Suit yourself," he said with a quick laugh as he and Hutch walked off. I looked over at the setting sun and figured I might as well go and find my den. It didn't take long to find it, it was actually really close to the place where Hutch had found me. The den was fairly big on the inside, more than enough room for me to live. The opening was facing the hills where the sun rose, which would help me wake up early.

I layed down inside the den on top of a pile of convineintly located leaves that made a very comfortable bed. As I tried to fall asleep I thought about everything that had happened to me and tried to remember who I really was. The furthest back I could remember was waking up in the cage.

Every time I tried to think back further than that my head began to scream in pain. But I didn't stop. I just kept replaying the day in my head over and over until I was in tears.

"Think, your name is Blackjack, you are an alpha, you are from where," I asked myself as l slammed my paw into the ground and grabbed my head in pain. Eventually I just gave up and passed out from the pain. I wasn't any closer to finding out who I was than when I started thinking. But at least I had made a new start and made some good friends. When I woke up, my new life would begin.


	3. A Lovers Grudge

**Chapter 3: A Lovers Grudge**

The morning came was too quickly for me. The sun shined into my den brightly, rudely disturbing my sleep. I tried to roll over to catch a few more minutes of sleep but then I remembered I had to wake up early so I could hunt with Candu and Hutch and sighed. I stood up slowly to stretch my waking limbs which felt really good, until I remembered the dream I had.

I remembered only bits and pieces of it, but it seemed so real. I remembered looking down a large cliff at a massive river below. I didn't know why I was there, or what it meant, but the last thing I remember was jumping off into the water below. Then I woke up. I shivered a bit as I thought back to it and tried to just shrug it off.

I stepped outside with the dream still buzzing around in the back of my head and I took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. It was relaxing enough to make me forget everything else and just enjoy the view for a second. I could see all the way down through the valley where we would be hunting, the sun was rising over the mountains in the distance, and the first few caribou were making their was to graze. I heard my stomach grumble and wondered how long it had been since I had last eaten anything, and more importantly, when Candu and Hutch would arrive.

"See I told you he could do it," I heard Candu say. I looked to my right and saw him right beside Hutch who still didn't seem very pleased by me. I still didn't know what I had done to make this guy so mad at me.

"Sure he can wake up early enough, but can he hunt," Hutch asked rhetorically. I just rolled my eyes and we made our way to the spot where they usually started the hunt. It was a small break in the treeline, just enough to slip into the tall grass undetected. Waiting for us were two other alphas, one of which, was Kate. The other I hadn't seen the day before. His fur was an interesting shade of red and he followed me with his green eyes.

"Blackjack meet Garth, he's from the eastern pack and he's with us today," Kate explained. I looked over to him and he tried to make humself seem taller than he actually was.

"Garth calm down, you let that much meat go to your head and you'll attract a bear," laughed Candu. Garth huffed and lowered himself to crawl into the field.

"Blackjack I want you and Hutch to go towards the end of the valley in case they try to run. Me, Candu, and Garth will hit them from behind and try to draw some your way," Kate explained. I nodded to let her know I understood but Hutch just let out an irritated growl. But he did as he was told and we made our way quietly to the end of the valley.

As we lay in wait neither of us said nothing. Hutch I guess was either so focused on the hunt he couldn't bring himself to talk, or he had some kind of grudge against me and didn't want to. Either way the quiet was way too irritating. I had to at least spark up a conversation long enough to occupy us until we had a chance to hunt.

"Why so quiet," I asked him. He just rolled his eyes at me like I should have known the answer.

"You should be focused on hunting right now, not talking," he replied as if he were scolding me.

"Come on, you have harrdly said a word to me since I've been here, it's like you don't want me here," I argued. He just let out a low annoyed growl signaling for me to shut up. Which was a good thing, because as I drew my attention back to the caribou, I noticed that our other three companions had already pounced onto one.

That howl of pain it let out was enough to warn the others of our precence, and they instantly darted towards me and Hutch. They were a good distance away, so we had a little bit of time to think of a plan before they got to us. The majority of them were directing striaght towards us, so hitting them head on was suicide.

"Break right," Hutch ordered. He and I must have been thinking of the same plan, because I was just about to tell him to break left. I darted off towards the right edge of the cliff and began looking around for a possible catch. I spotted a decent sized buck that was just far enough towards me that I could get him without being trampled.

I took the opportunity and leaped onto its back, sinking my fangs into its neck. It squealed in pain, and the momentum from my jump was enough to cause the buck to trip. Unfortunately, he fell and rolled, meaning i got rolled over a few times. Thankfully I didn't let go, and it fell cold dead in my jaws. I was filled with adrenaline and ready for another try.

I looked around and noticed Hutch having trouble keeping a grip on a smaller caribou and started to notice a massive buck charging straight towards him. I instantly froze in fear, unsure of what to do. The other three were too far away to help, so I was Hutch's defense.

"Hutch look out," I shouted as I worked my way through the charging caribou. I felt the impact of their hooves against my sides as they cracked into me, but I kept on running towards him. Hutch must not have heard me because he was still oblivious to his attacker so I tried once again to get his attention.

"Hutch you're about to get hit look to your left," I screamed. Again he was unresponsive. I managed to work my way to the right side of the valley with a screaming pain in my right side. I ran as hard as I could to catch up to Hutch who recieved a kick to the shoulder from the caribou he was chasing. I looked left and saw the buck almost upon him.

"HUTCH," I screamed as I caught up to and tackled him to the ground. The force of my tackle sent us both rolling, just barely past the bucks antlers which would have made mince meat out of Hutch. I recovered from the ordeal quicker than Hutch and turned to face the agressor. It snarled at me and started to charge, then it let out a loud squeal of pain as Candu landed on it and sunk his claws into it.

Garth and Kate were right behind him and helped him bring down the larger than life buck. I looked back to see if Hutch was alright, but he wasn't there anymore. I began to get worried and looed around the valley to see him halfway back to the trees. His head was hung low and he was walking hurridly like he didn't want us to notice him.

"Hey guys I think we should go check on Hutch, I think something is wrong with him," I said with concern. They all looked over at him and I quickly rushed up behind him to see what the problem was.

"Hutch, what's wrong," I asked. He turned to me with his fangs bared and tears flowing down his eyes.

"You ruined everything, I could have had it, you just had to go and screw it all up," he screamed at me.

"Hutch calm down, he only wanted to help," Candu said stepping up beside me.

"Shut up, don't defend this outsider. Winston should have just let me kill him," he screamed even louder.

"Hutch please calm down, Blackjack just saved your life," Kate said stepping towards him.

"Keep away from me, all of you. This, thing, will do the same thing that the first one did, I'm trying to protect you, but don't come crying to me when he kills someone," Hutch shouted as he turned from us and shot off away from us. We just stood there, dumbstruck. His reaction was so sudden and violent, we didn't have time to really understand what had just happened.

"What was all of that," Garth asked. Candu just let out a dissapointed sigh and looked over to me.

"Hey Blackjack, don't let that get you down, I now know why Hutch doesn't like you, I would explain but I need to go calm him down. I'll explain later," Candu said as he ran off to catch up to his lifelong friend. I looked back at Kate who just shrugged. Apparently she was just as confused as I was.

"Come on, we should get these things back to the pack so we can finish the rest of our duties," Garth said trying to break the silence. Kate nodded and they turned to go collect the three caribou we brought down, but I was so tore up, I couldn't move. My eyes were full of tears and I had to resist the urge to start balling my eyes out. What he said really hurt, everyone liked me so far, exept for Hutch.

"You alright Blackjack," I heard Kate ask. I wuped away my tears quickly and nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine," I lied. I took one last look at the direction Hutch ran off into before turning around to help Kate and Garth. I hoped Candu's explanation would make things better, because right now I felt absolutely terrible.

***Candu's POV***

I followed my friend through the trees as quickly as I could. Having very short legs definately wasn't helping with my speed as Hutch would easily dart ahead of me, but I would manage to catch up. I knew calling out for him wouldn't stop him, I would just have to follow him until he stopped at the same place he had visited for the last two years. Finally I caught a break as I saw Hutch stop and instantly break down crying. I caught my breath quickly before I stepped up beside Hutch to comfort him.

"Hutch, it's alright, I'm here buddy," I said placing my paw on his back. He looked over at me and shoved his head into my shoulder where he sobbed for almost ten minutes.

"I miss her Candu," he managed through his sobs.

"I know Hutch, and I'm going to be here for you as long as it takes but you have to control yourself. Blackjack isn't like-"

"Don't you dare say his name, especially not here," Hutch growled. His violent mood changes had been concerning me for a few days now. He hadn't been as bad off as he was last year, but Blackjack showed up on the wrong day. For Hutch to be as generous as he was really shocked me.

"Ok, I won't say his name, but you need to control your anger Hutch, Blackjack only wanted to help you. Had he not been there you'd probably be seriously wounded or dead right now. Why can't you just give him a chance," I asked trying to keep him calm. Hutch only looked over to the grave we were standing next to. I read the engraving he had made on a rock in front of the grave. It read 'Victoria, R.I.P'.

"Because he doesn't deserve a chance, none of the outsiders do. They killed my mate Victoria, my one true love. I will always bear a grudge for an outsider. No matter what he does for me, or how long he stays here,"


	4. Catching Up

**Chapter 4: Catching Up**

As we pulled back the last caribou, there still was no sign of either Hutch or Candu, which had Kate really worried. She said that it wasn't like them to be gone that long, she had seen Hutch go through some pretty bad mood swings, but none like that. She was also unaware why he was like that. Apparently he had been that way ever since she became an alpha.

Garth really wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation. He had never see anyone react so violently to a simple question. Despite that, he did have concerns for Hutch. He was not just a fellow alpha, but they had become friends since the two packs had combined. Which was something I was still lost at.

Anyway, as we pulled in the last caribou, Humphrey was awaiting us eagerly, along with a pale white wolf. I couldn't help but fraw my eyes to her. She was absolutely beautiful. Her vioelet eyes shimmered in the morning sunlight, and her fur almost seemed to be sparkiling.

"Who's that," I asked Kate quietly. She looked up to see her and her eyes widened.

"Oh, that's my sister Lilly, I completely forgot to tell you about her, she's Garth's mate, or she will be soon anyway," Kate explained. As soon as she said Lilly was Garth's mate, my heart dropped like a rock. To think I was going to ask her to the moonlight howl.

"Hey Lilly, come meet Blackjack," Kate said happily to her sister. My eyes widened and I looked over at her like she was crazy. I just knew I wouldn't be able to put words together in front of Lilly. Lilly gave a wonderful smile and walked gracefully over to see us.

"Who's Blackjack," she asked, almost oblivious to my precence, throwing my heart even further away.

"Lilly you're standing right in front of him," Garth laughed as Lilly nearly walked right into me. She turned her head and jumped to see she was only a few inches away from me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said quickly as she backed up quickly.

"It's alright, and I'm Blackjack," I faked a laugh. Through her fur I could see a light blush, but I didn't know if it was the fact that she nearly ran into me, or maybe she liked me. I just forgot that thought instantly. She was Garth's mate, I had no right to be hitting on her.

"I'm Lilly," she giggled, "so if you're an outsider, where are you from," she asked sweetly.

"I, uh, I don't know. All I can remember is waking up in a cage, being brought here by humans, getting takled by Hutch, and then Winston said I could stay," I admitted. I was getting kind of tired to explaining it to everybody, but I dind't mind repeating it once more for Lilly.

"That's terrible, is that really all you remember," she asked with honest concern. I nodded half-heartedly.

"The humans told me my name was Blackjack, and they said I was lucky to be alive, I'm guessing something bad must have happened for me not to remember anything. The only thing I genuinely know, id that I'm an alpha, and I'm not sure how I can even remember that," I said with a shrug.

"Hey guys, not to interrupt but can we eat yet," asked Humphrey. The question was a ton of relief as it brought some of the pressure off of me. I ate with Humphrey and Kate, they didn't mind, since I didn't have anyone else to join. Kate and I talked back and forth about what might have caused Hutch to snap like that, but we just drew blanks. We asked Humphrey if he could remember anything bad happening, but he didn't know either. After a few minutes Candu arrived, but their was no sign of Hutch.

"Can I sit with you guys," Candu asked. His voice was low, like he was sad about something, no doubt relating to Hutch's condition.

"Sure," we said in unison. Cand sat down beside us but didn't bother to eat anything.

"Hey Candu, is something wrong," I asked him. Candu just shook his head.

"It's Hutch, I tried talking to him, but he just won't listen," Candu said with a sigh of dissapointment.

"You said you would explain to me why he doesn't like me, so what is his problem," I asked.

"Blackjack, its not you he has a problem with. He told me he actually thinks you're a very nice wolf, but it's the fact you're an outsider that he doesn't like you. He doesn't like all outsiders," Candu said trying to keep his voice down.

"But why, what did they ever do to him," Kate asked, apparently quite interested in our conversation.

"It was two years ago, a little bit after Kate left for alpha school. Back then, Hutch was one of the friendliest wolves in the pack. He looked out for everyone, especially his mate Victoria-"

"Wait what, Hutch had a mate," Kate asked in shock. Candu nodded, annoyed by the fact he had been interrupted, but he continued his explanation.

"Yes, he loved her more than anything. I remember when he first met her. Me and him were hanging out near the bottom of the hill where the moolight howl is held...

***2 years ealier***

***Candu's POV***

"Dang man, thats the fifth night in a row we haven't had dates," Hutch complained.

"Aw come on, it's not that bad, just a bad streak of luck," I said as I sat down beside a tree and began to lean on it.

"You know Candu, I'm getting pretty tired of asking for a date at random. I want to find someone who I can have a serious relationship with," Hutch said as he turned away shaking his head.

"Wow, easy Hutch, that doesn't sound like the Hutch I know, what happened to the Hutch who was always bragging about his dates," I asked with a laugh. But Hutch really wasn't in a mood to laugh. He kept his sad expression and just loooed back up the hill at all of the wolves howling together.

"He's gone, the new Hutch wants to settle down and start a family of his own," he said as his dpression began to sink in. He looked over to walk away but his gaze stopped. I looked over to where he was looking and saw a beautiful wolf sitting by a tree, apparently in our same situation.

"Who's that," he asked me. I thought I had seen her before, but I wasn;t exactly sure. Her fur was almost pink in shade under the moonlight, I knew exactly what was going through Hutch's mind.

"I think I'm in love," he admitted.

***Present***

***Blackjack's POV***

"They became mates soon after that. He even had pups on the way," Candu said as his voice filled with sadness.

"Then, HE showed up," Candu said with a shiver.

"Who," we all asked in curiosity.

"Slade,"

***Hutch's POV***

** "**He is just like that piece of filth in every way. He looks like him, talks like him, even sounds like him," I growled to myself. I stabbed my claws into the nearest tree, leaving deep gashes in its trunk.

"But Blackjack is different, he would never hurt any of us," I could hear Candu's voice echoing. As much as I wanted to believe him, I just couldn't. What Slade did to me was unexcusable and unforgivable. In my mind, they were all the same. If they weren't from here, they couldn't be trusted.

"Victoria, I'm so sorry, why couldn't I have been there to protect you, and my pups," I said as I grew even angrier, again slashing my slaws through the trees thick hide.

_"Hutch help me,"_ I could hear her scream as clearly now as I did two years ago. The more I thought about her death, the more I needed her back. She would be able to be there for me through times like this. This mix of anger, sadness, and confusion.

The only solace I had to rely on was the death of that bastard Slade. I was merciless, I made sure of that. I made him suffer when he died. I took him as far out into the wood as I could, and broke all of his legs, then I just cut him until he bled to death. I would never feel right taking the life of another wolf, but he wasn't a wolf, he was a demon.

I remember how I walked into our den just as he cut Victoria's throat. How her life slipped away before my very eyes. The one thing that haunted me the most though, were our last words.

_"Victoria, I love you, and I always will, you and our family,"_

_ "Hutch... I love you too, more than anything,"_

_ "I promise, everything will be alright," _

_ "Hutch, I'm cold," _

_ "Shhh, I got you, your safe in my arms,"_

_ "I will never forget you Hutch, I will always be by your side,"_

_ "Victoria, please stay with me,"_

_ "So, tired, must sleep,"_

_ "Please Victoria NO," _

My claws thudded into the tree one final time and it fell over. I was brought to tears, and I couldn't help myself. The pain was too much for me to handle. I missed my beautiful mate. Ever since she died, I haven't had a single sate to the moonlight howl. It started to seem like Veronica was the only wolf I would ever love.

"Blackjack, you dare touch anyone in this pack, and I will be the first one there to kill you," I growled.

***Blackjack's POV***

I shivered and wiped a few tears from my eyes as Candu finished explaining the events of that tradgic day. I felt terrible, Hutch lost his entire family to a deranged wolf who looked just like me.

"Ever since then Hutch has been so alone. I'm usually the only one whos there for him. He's practucally my brother," Candu said as he wiped away his own sorrows.

"I had no idea how bad off Hutch really was," Kate said looking down and nuzzling close to Humphrey.

"When you saved his life Blackjack, he was so overcome with confusion didn't know what to do. He was grateful that you saved his life, but he promised himself that he would never allow another outsider in the pack,"

"Is there anything we can do to help him," Humphrey asked.

"I wish there was, I can't stand to see him like this, but he won't listen to anyone," Candu said near frustration.

"What if we could help him move on," I suggested. Candu thought for a second.

"That might actually work, but what if Hutch can't find a date, he's tried for two years now, and he can't find anyone," Candu pointed out shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that," Kate offered.

"Alright, I'll se what I can do to keep him calm until the moonlight howl," Candu said, starting to lighten up.

"What do you want me to do," I asked hopefully, but Candu just frowned.

"I'm not sure there is anything you can do Blackjack. The best you could do would be to keep your distance from him, until he can see how good you really are," Candu said with a shrug.

"But I want to help, it kills me to know he doesn't like me," I said looking down in dissapointment.

"Don't worry Blackjack, we'll fix this, I promise," Candu said trying to keep my spirits up.

"Besides, you still have to find a date for the moonlight howl," Kate said with a wink.


	5. Secrets Revealed

**Chapter 5: Secrets Revealed**

As Kate and Candu left to go put their plan in motion, I was abandoned to finish our alpha duties alone. Thankfully they were very easy, unfortunately, they were boring. Kate told me that once I was done eating I had to check up on everyone, and I mean EVERYONE ro make sure they were doing alright. Then after that I had to keep a close eye on the omegas and make sure they didn't do anything too stupid. Thankfully I got to hang out with Humphrey for a while, so it wasn't all that bad.

My final task was probably going to be the worst of them all though. It was a patrol, and I was alone. Not even Garth had bothered to show up. I just guessed that he had went to help Kate out, and he probably wouldn't show up anytime soon. As I walked through the woods, I had fallen into an utter case of boredom and started to hum to make the time fly by.

The scenery was nice. The trees were nice and green, the flowers were blooming, it was easily a sight of spring. The air was cooler than it was yesterday, which I was very grateful for considering I was walking for what felt like hours. Maybe it was just because I was bored. Just as I stopped humming to take a breath I heard a pained grunt comming from behind me. I whiped around without thinking and looked to see if I was being followed.

"Hello," I seemed to ask myself. There was a long empty pause followed by no reply.

"Is anyone there," I asked again. Again nothing. I walked forward a few feet and lowered my nose to the ground to sniff for a scent, but smelled nothing. I would have sworn I was going crazy, that is until I saw a very thin streak of blood in the dirt. I knew I wasn't going crazy. But, who was following me?

I looked around and saw noone. This was almost exactly like the time Hutch tackled me, but I knew Hutch wouldn't be around me. Whoever they were they were hurt.

***Unknown POV***

"Dammit," I growled under my breath. I looked down at my bleeding paw and grunted as I pulled out the tangled thorns. I was lucky to escape Blackjack's gaze, I got up the tree quick enough to hide in the shadows before he turned around.

"Too fucking close," I grumbled as he looked around in confusion. Just the sight of him made me want to tear his head off. But he was too close to the pack, they would hear his screams.

"I'm going to get you Blackjack, for what you did to my father," I growled. I couldn't believe my luck that I actually found him here, after so many months of searching I finally found him. Now I just had to lure him into the right place at the right time.

"I hope you enjoy your time while you're still kicking you bastard, because by the time the moon is full, you'll be dead. Lexus is hunting you," I laughed.

***Blackjack's POV***

I shivered and turned around to continue my patrol with an eerie feeling that I was being watched. I just shrugged it off and kept walking trying to keep myself entertained as best I could. This was probably the most boring things ever, but I figured if someone else was here it wouldn't be so bad.

It was a little bit after mid-day when Kate finally showed up and told me that alpha duties were over. It was the most relieving feeling ever. But, I really wasn't sure what to do. I could have went to hang out with Humphrey, or I could have went to find Candu, who was probably with Hutch.

"I know," I said finally. I went to the hang out spot for all the alphas, it was better than nothing. I needed more alpha friends anyway. The spot was fairly secluded, it was deep in a dense patch of trees, so it pretty much took an alpha to get in. I jumped and twisted around until I finally wiggled my way into the clearing. There were a few alphas already there, I noticed Kate talking to a few of her friends who were giggling a little bit every now and then.

"Wow Blackjack you scared the hell out of me," I heard someone laugh. I looked over and saw Travis sitting beside me, I hadn't even noticed him when I jumped in and almost jumped myself. He was from the eastern pack like Garth, Kate introduced me to to him when she showed me the alpha hangout.

"Sorry Travis, " I laughed.

"That's alright, hey what's Kate doing, she's been talking to Jessica and Lori for like 30 minutes and they keep giggling," he asked. Kate didn't say not to tell anyone, so I figured it was alright to tell Travis.

"She's trying to find Hutch a date for the moonlight howl. He's been pretty upset lately, and she thinks if he can get a date that he will feel better," I explained.

"Oh yea, the whole incident with his mate really messed him up. You should have met him before that, he wasn't anything like he is now. He was happy all the time and always out with his friends. Now, he's just not the same," Travis said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"You knew Hutch before his mate was killed, I thought the packs hated each other until just recently," I asked.

"Well, they didn't really hate each other, they were just angry that they hadn't been combined yet. The eastern territory was short on food and our pack leader Tony was getting angry at Winston for taking so long to combine the packs. Before that, the wolves from both backs were allowed to hang out with each other. Me and Hutch were pretty close friends, not as close as he is with Candu, but still pretty close. When Victoria was killed, we just drifted apart," as Travis spoke his voice grew sadder and sadder.

"Well, hopefully this will make him feel better. He pretty much hates me, and he had a pretty violent outburst earlier. I'm afraid if we don't do something soon that he will just get worse and worse until he hurts someone, or himself,"

***Candu's POV***

I walked towards the dark den in which Hutch normaly spent his free time. He normaly would just lay inside and mumble to himself. The poor guy was so depressed all the time, I really hoped that what Kate had in mind would help him. I couldn't stand to see him like this, I was going to help him no matter what. As I approached the entrance of the den something felt out of place. I couldn't hear Hutch's usual mumbling.

"Hutch, you there," I asked as I stopped just outside of the den. There was an unsual silence to my question. Usually Hutch answers me right away, it wasn't like him to stay quiet. I thought that he might have went to sleep, but he never goes to sleep this early.

"Hutch, are you home," I stepped inside and felt something wet under my paw. I picked it up and looked down to see my paw covered in blood. I looked down to where I had stepped to see a large puddle of fresh blood. What in the world had happened in here? I looked up around the dark space to see more puddles of blood spread around the den, some dried up and others fresh.

"Hutch are you ok," I asked nervously. I listened carefully for a reply, but I didn't hear a single voice, but I heard a light rustle in the bushes a fair distance away from me. I looked over to where I heard the rustle to see a thin trail of blood leading off into the forrest.

"I'm comming Hutch," I shouted, darting off to follow the trail. Dirt had been kicked over it, apparently someone had tried to cover up the mess.

"Hang on Hutch, I'm comming buddy," I shouted as I picked up speed. My heart was racing in pure anxiety. I didn't know who, or what I would find at the end of the blood trail, but if it was Hutch, he needed my help. The trail of blood grew thinner and thinner until finally it dissapeared all together. I looked around hoping it would re-appear but it didn't.

"Dammit, Hutch are you alright," I shouted as loud as I could. After the echo of my voice faded I heard a thud followed by a pained grunt. It was close to me, just a few feet away, so I rushed over to it, and my heart sank. Hutch was laying face first in the dirt, panting heavily.

"Hutch," I shouted as I rushed over to him. He looked over at me weakly and tried to push himself away.

"No Candu... stay away," he said weakly.

"It's alright Hutch I got you," I said as I rushed to his side. I looked down to see where he was hurt and saw large claw marks all over his paws.

"Hutch, who did this to you," I asked. I noticed that he had been crying, and Hutch wasn't a wolf who cried in pain, at least not physical pain. His claws were coated in blood, his own blood.

"No, Hutch, no, you're cutting yourself aren't you," I demmanded, a little angry at him.

"I- sorry, but, lets out pain," he said as he began to grow pale. I managed to pull him up onto my back as quickly as I could as I began to panic.

"Just hang in there Hutch I'm going to get you some help, your going to be alright," I said as I began to lug him back to the pack. His paws hang limp by my sides and he began to breath weakly.

"Candu, I'm cold," he whispered as he began to shake.

"I got you Hutch don't worry, I'll make sure you're warm when we get back. I said as I started to cry. I knew he was in critical condition, he had lost a lot of blood and if I didn't get him help fast, I would lose my closest friend.

"Candu, I'm dying," Hutch cried as he shoved his head into my back. I could feel his tears soaking into my fur, and I began to cry even harder.

"Don't you dare say that Hutch, I'm going to get you some help, you're going to pull through.

"No he's not," echoed an errie growl. Then, I felt a thud into my chest. I just knew at that point, that it was all over.


	6. Appearance

**Chapter 6: Appearance**

***Candu's POV***

I hit the ground hard, unfortunately landing right on top of Hutch. He yelped in pain and I jumped up quickly to keep from hurting him anymore. I looked up to see what hit me, and saw a wolf sitting there looking at us like nothing had just happened. He weilded a grim smile hidden behind dark brown fur, and soul peircing yellow eyes that reminded me of lightning.

"Get out of my way," I demanded. He just let out a small laugh at me command.

"What's the matter Candu, is poor little Hutch hurt. Do you want to help that pathetic slob," he laughed. I grit my teeth in anger and pounced straight towards him. He rolled to the side avoiding my attack with ease.

"Don't you ever talk about my friend like that," I yelled.

"Why not pipsqueak, does it hurt your tiny little feelings," I was in so much rage that I instantly jumped straight for him. Again he jumped away like he was toying with me. Then it struck me. How in the world had he known both of our names, and that I don't like my size being mocked.

"Who the fuck are you," I growled. He just esmiled at me like he was naming himself superior.

"Language little puppy," he laughed. I snapped at him and slashed at him with my claws but he was moving to fast for me to even try and swing at him.

"I asked you a question," I shouted.

"What does it matter who I am, what matters is that I want to help Hutch," he laughed. He obviously didn't want to help Hutch, otherwise he wouldn't have tripped me.

"He doesn't need your help," I rushed him as he looked towards Hutch. I was mere inches from him when his paw came up and struck my jaw. I was sent flying a few feet away in horrible pain. My nose was bleeding and my entire jaw ached.

"Oh really, what's the matter Hutch feeling alone. Is it because poor little Victoria was killed by Slade," he laughed. I could hear Hutch's whimpers of pain and greif from where I was laying. He wanted to get this guy, but he was too weak.

"Shut up you asshole, can't you see he's in enough pain," I screamed as I jumped back up.

"How much does that name hurt you Hutch, Slade, I bet it makes you want to rip my throat out," he mocked. Hutch whined even more and tried to get up but he was powerless.

"Leave him alone," I shouted as I rushed him again. Without warning he whiped around and sunk his claws right into my chest. He scraped them down my sides andI howled with pain.

"Don't interupt little one, the adults are talking," he laughed at me as I fell to the ground in excrutiating pain. I yelped as I landed and it felt like my sides were on fire. I could feel my warm blood seeping through my wounds, and I thought that I was going to die right there.

"Now, back to business Hutch. Oh yes I know how much you hate Slade for what he did, how much pain he caused you. Your poor little wife Victoria, she didn't stand a chance against him. But she died like she lived, a whore," at that insult I could hear a bloodcurdling growl, but it wasn't Hutch.

"Luxus, leave them alone," called out a voice as a wolf jumped from the trees and planted his claws into the larger wolfs back. Lexus let out a howl in pain and slung his attacker off, who wwasn't phased by the counter, and jumped up to protect us.

"You," Lexus barked, "you should have never shown up,"

"Get out of here," he shouted at Lexus who turned and fled in terror. The wolf was half Lexus' size, and would have been crushed by anything Lexus would have thrown at him, yet Lexus ran like a pup when he saw his shimmering silver fur.

"Who are you," I asked weakly. He turned to me, and his eyes were as blue as the ocean, they were warm and inviting, they made me feel safe.

"That's not important, just stay away from Lexus, your friends are comming, I must go now," he said and without another word he dashed off after Lexus. I could barely here Hutch's breathing, and I began to feel light-headed, the last thing I remember before I blacked out, was the sound of wolves closing in.

***Blackjack's POV***

When we found Hutch and Candu they were both passed out, and bleeding badly. Hutch was especially bad off. His front paws had cuts all around them and he had lost a lot of blood. Candu was cut worse, but he hadn't lost as much blood as Hutch had. Even to the touch Hutch was cold, we were losing him.

"Come on, we have to get them to the healers now," Garth said as he picked up Candu onto his back. Hutch wouldn't like it, but I had to carry him back. I managed to get him onto my back and then rushed behind Garth to get them to safety.

"What do you think caused this," I asked as I ran.

"Doesn't seem likely that Hutch and Candu would fight, must've been someone else," Garth replied.

"Who do you think would do this, I haven't been here long but I don't know of anyone out to get these two," I said in confusion. It didn't make sense, Hutch and Candu would never do this to each other, but we found them alone in critical condition. The healers had thankfully came to meet us halfway back and instantly began bandaging up the two. We stepped back to give them some room, and were met by Winston and a brown wolf, both with concern and anger written all over their faces.

"Blackjack this is Tony, he is the pack leader for the eastern pack and Garths father, now I want you two to tell us what all of this comotion is for," Winston said sternly.

"Well, Garth showed up in the alpha hangout a little bit after I did, and so we decided to go for a walk. Kate met up with us a little after that and we walked off towards Hutch's den to see how he was. While we were walking we heard what sounded like a fight, and Candu was screaming, a lot. We went to go see what had happened and found blood all over the ground. Kate ran back to get the healers while me and Garth went to check out the scene. We found Hutch and Candu passed out with cuts and both bleeding very badly," I explained. Garth nodded in agreement and the two nodded as they assesed the situation.

"Could you tell if there were any other wolves there," Tony asked. I shook my head in response.

"None, just Candu and Hutch," Garth added. Winston walked up behind the two healers and looked down at the injured alphas. He sat there for a second before Tony joined him. They were talking to each other but we cfouldn't hear what they were saying so me and Garth just made small talk.

"Do you think they'll be alright," I asked.

"Candu maybe, Hutch I'm not so sure," Garth replied grimly.

'Hutch you better pull through this,' I said to myself. I could feel my eyes watering up with tears. I didn't want Hutch to die. Kate arrived shaken up badly.

"What happened," she asked nervously.

"I'm not sure, but its starting to look like Hutch fought Candu," Garth whispered.

"But Candu and Hutch would never fight over anything it must have been someone else," Kate argued. But the question was, who.

***Lexus' POV***

** "**Dammit Byron why can't you mind your own business," I shouted to my persuer. I had been trying to several minutes to shake him, but he was chasing me like I was a caribou.

"As long as Blackjack is here this is my business," he replied. I ducked under a low laying log in an attempt to lose him, but I heard his claws scrape the trunk as he jumped over the fallen pine. I knew exactly where he was leading me, and at this rate, I would be forced to go there.

"There's no use defending him, if I don't get to him Hutch will," I laughed.

"Not as long as I'm around," he replied, his tone unaffected by my comment. It was irritating how calm and collected he always was. Nothing seemed to get on his nerves, and that made me more angry than anything else, because I loved getting into peoples minds and messing them up.

"You won't always be able to watch out for him, so just give up, before I have to kill you," I attempted once more to slow him down.

"You'd kill me either way Lexus, now leave Blackjack alone before I have to kill you," he shouted. I jumped up onto the trunk of the nearest tree and propelled myself forward through the air. It put me a fair distance ahead of Byron, but he would be fast to catch up. I dived through a thick patch of brush and wound up in the clear. I was safe, for now.

***Candu's POV***

I woke up slowly with my sides feeling like they had been struck by lightning. My chest was almost as bad, it felt like I ran chest first into a very sharp rock. I felt light headed and tried to raise my head with little success. I finally began to take in the scenery, I was in Winstons den, Hutch was laying a few feet away from me, and there were three others. Winston, Tony, and Eve all sitting at the edge of the den arguing about something.

"He's awake now, let's go ask him," demmanded Winston.

"Now dear he just woke up, let him rest for a minute," Eve said lightly, yet sternly. The three still approached me and with the assistance of Winston and Tony, I was able to sit up.

"Candu, tell us exactly what happened," Tony said. I thought back to what had happened. I remembered finding Hutch, and then getting knocked down, and as far up to a silver wolf saving us, but there was something I just knew I was forgetting.

"Well, I went to go check up on Hutch and I found blood covering the floor of his den. It was even in the dirt oustide his den leading through the woods, so I followed the trail where I found Hutch with his wrists cut badly. I knew then that he had been cutting himself and tried to help him. I managed to get him onto my back and start carrying him through the forrest when I was tripped and attacked by a dark brown wolf. He kept saying stuff to Hutch, stuff that made him angry. He was the one who cut my sides and chest, and had it not been for a silver wolf who jumped in, we would probably be dead," I explained. The three nodded as they took in the story and sat in silence to examine it.

"Did you get the names of those two wolves," Winston asked. I thought back, and I was sure I heard the brown ones name, but I couldn't remember it.

"The silver wolf didn't say, but I'm pretty sure the brown wolf told me his name, but I don't remember it," I admitted.

"Was either wolf from one of the packs," Tony budged in.

"I don't think so, but the weird part was, the silver wolf was half the size opf the brown wolf who attacked us, and yet he ran him off like it was nothing," I said as more details of the fight began to some back to me.

"Winston, you don't think it's-" Tony started but Winston interrupted.

"I know it's him. We have to talk now," Winston urged. Tony nodded in agreement and the two stepped outside leaving me alone with Eve.

"Is Hutch going to be alright," I asked in concern as I looked back to him. Eve looked down as if avoiding my gaze.

"I'm not sure. He lost a lot of blood, and he was barely alive when he was brought here. He will need a lot of rest to rebuild his strength. And since he's been cutting himself we will need someone to keep a close eye on him. Do you know why he was doing it in the first place," Eve asked as she walked over to the shivering Hutch.

"He misses Victoria. He said it was the only was to make his pain dissapear. He must have been dong it for a while because some of the blood that was in his den was pretty old," I said as I walked over to my friend and layed next to him to keep him warm.

"He's lucky to have you as a friend Candu," Eve said as she turned away from us.

"And I'm lucky to be his friend," I whispered as Hutch finally stopped shivering.


	7. Double Duty

**Chapter 7: Double Duty**

***Blackjack's POV***

It has been one day since Hutch and Candu were attacked, and a restless night of waiting to see if Hutch's condition would change. Candu finally came to and explained that he and Hutch were attacked by a brown wolf, and then saved by a silver wolf. Winston and Tony had been up all night discussing something but I;m not sure what. It was clearly about that wolf, but I could never hear what they were saying.

I got a couple hours of sleep, which was better than none. But as I woke up I started to wish I had gotten more, because Garth was standing outside of my den with an irritated look on his face. He looked at me as I woke up and motioned for me to come out and talk. As I approached the edge of the den Kate was sitting beside Humphrey barely able to hold her head up.

"What's up guys," I asked with a yawn. Garth rolled his eyes as he yawned himself. Apparently none of us had gotten a lot of sleep.

"Winston and dad want us to double our patrols, apparently that brown wolf is more important than we thought," Garth complained.

"Are you serious," I asked hoping he was joking.

"Nope, Humphrey and I were up all night trying to talk our way out of it," Kate yawned.

"I thought Humphrey was an omega though," I pointed out.

"He's technically an alpha since we are mates, but dad has some of the stronger omegas out to," Kate explained.

"Well this is fan-freaking-tastic," I groaned. "Well, how was Hutch doing,"

"He's getting better. He's going to recover slowly, but he can't get out for a while," Kate said with mixed emotions

"Have you found a date for him yet," I asked.

"Actually I have, her name is Sadie, she said that she would love to go with him, now we just have to get Hutch in on it," Kate said as she lightened up.

"Well we have to let him heal up some first," I noted. Kate just rolled her eyes at me.

"If he has something to look forward to he will heal quicker," she argued.

"I don't think it works that way," Garth laughed.

"Oh what do you know," Kate laughed.

"Well, I suppose we should get our patrol over with, I guess we should split up, me and Garth and Kate and Humphrey," I said trying to get this out of the way as quick as I could.

"That's the plan, and when we're done we should meet up by Candu's den and check on him," Humphrey chimed in. We all nodded in agreeance and headed off in seperate directions. As Kate and Humphrey walked out of earshot me and Garth started talking about yesterdays attack.

"After I went back to my den last night, did Winston or Tony mention a name," I asked him lowly.

"Nope, all we know is we're looking for a dark brown wolf, or a silver wolf, if its the latter then we attack on sight, but if its the other we approach with caution," he replied in the same low volume. After that, a thought appeared in my mind. It was the moonlight howl, I didn't have a date, and I didn't want to go without one. And the one I wanted to go with, was in love with someone else.

"Hey Garth," I said, a little louder than before.

"Yea, what's up," he asked lookeing over at me.

"Do you know anyone who needs a date for the moonlight howl," I asked with a small blush. He just looked at me as if he was dumbfounded.

"You mean you don't have one yet," he asked. I shook my head.

"No, I don't and I really don't want to be alone on it," I said trying to hide my face.

"Well, I will cut you some slack since youve only been here a couple of days, and you still have 4 days to find one, but I think I can manage something," he replied with a grin.

"Thanks, I might just owe you one for that," I said with a snicker.

***Lexus' POV***

I sat on the edge of the territories all night. I waited for the right opportunity to sneak my way back in, and would sit there as long as it took. I knew Byron wouldn't have gone far from me, so I couldn't go in this way, and if he left, I knew he would go straight to Blackjack.

"Damn you Byron," I whispered to myself. If it weren't for him I could have had Blackjack, and his friends, well, except for Hutch. He may not have had the pure hatred that I did for him, but he still disliked him. And that was a major advantage on my part.

All I had to do was find out what made him tick, and then he was all mine. He was surprisingly easy to manipulate. He was most vulnerable when he slept. That's when I hit him the most. I would whisper to him, for hours upon hours, repeating the same simple message. He would even mumble it back to me when he had taken it in.

Turning him against Blackjack was the easy part. But, when it came to the others, he was more resiliant. The message would never fully soak in, and he would argue with it, fight it off. It was frustrating, he took to hating Blackjack in one night, but I could see then that turning him against the others, would be more difficult.

Especially that one they call Candu. Hutch normally growls in his sleep when I tell him to dislike Candu. Those two are very connected, breaking that connection wouldn't be easy, or quick. Seeing Candu stick up for Hutch even though I was three times his size was very courageos, it disgusted me.

'Perhaps if I turned my attention to the others in the pack, I would have more luck'. I thought to myself. Kate and Humphrey were inseperable, so I would have to hit them at the same time. Lilly and Garth are normally together, I could get them on nights they were seperated.

Then a thought struck me. I knew that they were going to find Hutch a date for this 'moonlight howl' as they called it. Pehaps if I can find out who they find him, I can turn her against Hutch and that in theory should cause a chain reaction. I grinned wickedly at my plan.

"Oh Lexus you've done it again," I whispered. My only problem, was getting past Byron.

***Candu's POV***

"You really found Hutch a date," I asked Kate excitedly.

"Yea, Sadie said that she'd been crushing on him for a while, but never could get the nerve to talk to him," Kate answered with an almost equal amount of enthusiasm.

"That's great, and I talked to Eve earlier while you guys were out on patrol, she said Hutch should be healed up enough to go to the moonlight howl," I said about to jump for joy, but my sides were still sore so I didn't.

"Now we just have to get Hutch to agree," Garth said as if he were trying to point out the problem with our plan.

"Oh come one, we get Sadie to go talk to him, he asks her to the howl, simple as that," Kate said with a laid back tone.

"If that doesn't work we'll have to make up a plan b pretty quick," Blackjack pointed out.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Kate said. She seemed so sure that this plan would work that I was begining to think it was fool proof, and I hoped it was.

"Say, was Hutch awake when you visited earlier," Kate asked. I thought back to the quick stop I made by Eve and Winston's den, and could vaugly remember Hutch trying to say something as I walked up, but I wasn't sure what it was, something about voices.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure he was awake," I replied nervously. I decided it was best to leave that part out, at least until I could verify that's what he said.

"Great, I'm going to go get Sadie so she can start talking to him," Kate said as he rushed out behind her.

"Well I hate to split, but I promised Lilly that once the patrols were over I would spend the rest of the day with her," Garth said as he turned away to walk out. "I'll see you guys later,"

That left me and Blackjack alone in my den. The silence however, didn't last long. Blackjack was about the only Alpha I knew, well, besides Humphrey, who couldn't stand the quiet. I liked that though, it brought up a lot of interesting conversations. As we talked he seemed to be holding something back, it was like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Blackjack, I can tell something is bothering you, you can tell me what it is, I won't tell anyone," I said softly, trying to aid his dilema. He just let out a soft sigh.

***Blackjacks POV***

"I think I'm in love with Lilly," I blurted out finally. Candu's jaw dropped almost instantly.

"But she's about to become Garth's mate," Candu objected.

"I know, when I found out I was heart-broken, but there's something about Lilly that reminds me of someone I think I knew before I lost my memory," I said as my head began to throb in pain and I fell to the ground in tears. The image of a pale white wolf with violet eyes, but, she was different from Lilly, she was taller, and looked stronger.

"Alexa," I shouted finally. That was it, I remembered Alexa, she was about to become my mate, but what happened to her I didn't know.

"What are you talking about, are you alright Blackjack," Candu asked with concern written all across his face.

"Yea, I'm fine, Alexa, she was about to become my mate, before I lost my memory, but I don't know what happened to her. I thought as hard as I could to remember anything that might have happened to her, but I couldn't think of anything at all.

"You mean, you were about to get a mate before you got here," Candu asked.

"I guess so, I wonder what else I'm not remembering," I said as I looked out into the woods.

"Well, don't worry, maybe you'll get your memory back in small pieces," Candu said trying to keep my spirits up. But my mood was fine, what needed help, was my memory.


	8. Happy Days

**Chapter 8: Happy Days**

***Hutch's POV***

When I first woke up, all I could remember was someone whispering paineful things to me. Then the real impact of the previous day came back. Candu finding me, trying to save me, and then I blacked out. When I woke up I was inside Eve and Winstons den, so weak I could hardly hold my head up. Eve looked after me for a while, and made sure that I was doing alright.

Winston would drop by occasionally with Tony, but they would just ask what I could remember about the fight. To be honest, I didn't remember a thing except for those painful words. It was all a blank to me, I was surprised that I had even lived through it.

Despite my pleas, Eve wouldn't let me go out and resume my alpha duties. She said I needed rest, but I didn't want to rest. I wanted to hunt down whoever did this to me. Sure I was the one who cut my wrists. But he was the one who tortured me. And I was going to make him pay for it.

As I sat in the den alone, I began to think of what was comming up. The moonlight howl. Ever since I had lost Victoria, I had never found a date, or even attended a single moonlight howl. I missed her so much, but I was starting to think what Candu had told me a while back was true. Maybe I did need to move on.

But who was there to move on to? Just about everyone I knew already had a mate. Even though I could mate with either an alpha or omega, my options were still limited. But I had this feeling that I was forgetting something. Something that I had been forgetting for a while, but what was it. Before I could even grasp what it was, I heard some footsteps comming my way.

"Hutch, you awake," I heard Kate ask from outside the den. I was still pretty wore out, but I managed the strength to answer her.

"Yea, come on in," I replied.

"Oh, it's not me, someone else wants to see you," she called back with what sounded like a slight giggle. I was a bit confused, who else wouild have came to see me. Just then a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the den. As she walked in I saw her bright pink fur.

"Hey Hutch," she said bashfully.

"Sadie," I asked. She blushed and looked away shyly with a nod.

"How are you feeling," she asked laying down beside me. My face even tried to light up as she cuddled closely to me. My heart skipped a beat and I stuttered to answer her.

"Better t-than y-y-yesterday," I replied nervously. She giggled at me and my face felt like it was on fire.

"Why are you so nervous, you always were the brave one, ever since alpha school," she said, and I knew exactly the time she was talking about. It was my fist day of alpha school.

***4 years earlier***

"So Hutch are you ready for this," Candu asked me.

"You know it, I can't wait," I replied excitedly. I had been waiting for months for that day. Ever since I was told that I would be going to alpha school I had trained myself for that day. I was bigger and stronger than everyone there thanks to that. They had apparently been too busy goofing off to train themselves.

"Try not to make the rest of us look bad," Candu laughed. Even at a young age he had a remarkable sense of humor. We sat in a clearing where we waited on our instructor to show up. There were about fifteen of us just sitting around and talking with our friends. But then I noticed a little pink female sitting all by herself.

"Hey Candu, why is she sitting all by herself," I asked him.

"Probably because her fur is pink," he replied. I felt sorry for her because she didn't have anyone to talk to, so I decided to change that.

"I'm going to go talk to her," I whispered to him. He started to say something but I walked off before he could get it out. She sat pretty secluded off to one side, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with her. She was looking down and didn't notice me comming, but before I got close enough for her to hear me, most of the crowd we were with noticed her, and ran over to crowd around her. They were laughing at her, and shouting insults at her. Being taller than they were I could see over them, and see that she was crying.

"You'll never make a good alpha," I heard someone scream.

"Just go back home,"

"You'll never have any friends with fur like that,"

"HEY," I shouted. They all stopped laughing and turned to see me towering over them.

"Why not pick on someone your own size," I growled at them. No one said a word, and all I could hear were a few gulps and whimpers.

"That's what I thought, now get out of my way so I can talk to my friend," I yelled. She stopped crying and was looking up at me with a smile. The crowd parted and I walked through them with a huff. I sat down beside her and returned her smile.

"Why are you all still here," I asked loudly. Almost instantly the entire crowd dissapeared in an flash. I looked back down to her and smiled again. She shoved her head into my chest and wiped away her tears.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem, I'm Hutch," I replied with a blush.

"I'm Sadie," she said with a giggle.

***Present***

"It's been a long time since I've thought about that day," I said with a smile.

"Whenever my parents took us east, I was heartbroken. But whenever I would think about that day, I would feel better," Sadie said. My face was practically on fire at this point.

"Sadie, I-" I stopped myself. Would Victoria be alright with me moving on?

"Yea Hutch," she asked sweetly. It was really time I moved on, and I was more than ready to.

"Sadie, I want to know if you would go to the moonlight howl with me," I said quickly. My heart was practically pounding out of my chest. A huge smile beamed across her face.

"Of course I will," she said excitedly. My heart fluttered and for the first time in a long time, I was able to smile. I was happy. Then, to my surprise, she licked my cheek. I blushed brightly and looked over at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hutch, I just-" Sadie started but I stopped her, I stared into her beautiful blue eyes, and I kissed her.

***Blackjack's POV***

I was elated. Not only did I have a small part of my memory back, but Kate's plan had worked. Hutch had asked Sadie to the moonlight howl, and apparently kissed her too. Mayber her plan had worked a little too well. I didn't care though, as long as it lightened Hutch's mood.

Now I just needed a date. I had admitted my secret crush on Lilly to Candu, and he had promised to keep it a secret. Aside from Lilly I really didn't know who to ask to the moonlight howl. Garth had prmised to try and hook me up, and Kate now had the time to try and set me up a date.

The rest of that day I had walked around with Candu trying to find a date, but also trying to piece together my mind. The only clue I had was the wolf Alexa, and I didn't know why I didn't become her mate. I thought maybe the dream I had a couple days ago might have had something to do with it.

I had to find someone that would help me get over Lilly. She was going to become Garth's mate, and I had no chance with her. Then again I hardly had a chance with anyone in the two packs. It was kind of depressing, but I just kept my chin up and tried to see things through.

But I kept having this strange feeling that someone was following me. I didn't want to keep looking over my shoulder, that would have made me seem paranoid. But every now and then I would glance back to see nothing there. It was almost like I was driving myself crazy.

It had been almost two hours since Candu and I had been walking. We had been around the territory almost twice, and seen just about everyone. Everyone I asked either already had a date, or wasn't interested. Candu even managed to pick up a date on our trek.

"I'm sorry to say it Blackjack but I think that's everyone," Candu said to my dissapointment.

"It's alright, maybe Garth or Kate will have better luck," I said with a semi-smile.

"Well, I hate to abandon you, but I need to get back to my den for tomorrow, I'll catch you later," he said as he yawned. I nodded in understanding and he walked off, leaving me alone out in the forrest with my thoughts.

"So what if I don't find a date, it's not the end of the world right," I asked myself out loud. But it kind of did. Sure I still had a few days left, but it seemed as though it was already over. I walked around for a bit arguing with myself, when yet again I had that strange feeling that I was being followed. So again I turned my head, but this time, there actually was someone there.

"Hey tall, dark, and lonesome," she laughed as she approached me. Her golden orange fur glowed in the setting sun and her seep brown gem-like eyes beamed at me. I smiled at her for a second and turned to face her.

"I thought I heard someone following me, I'm Blackjack," I said. She smiled and gave me a sharp look.

"I know who you are Blackjack, Garth told me all about you, I'm Amber," she said in response. I officially owed Garth one.

"Well I'm glad he mentioned you so much," I laughed.

"Let me guess, he hasn't said a single thing about me," she asked with a giggle.

"Not a word, hey, you want to walk with me," I asked.

"Why else would I have followed you," she asked sarcastically.

"Point taken," I said as we started to walk side-by-side. We talked for a while and I got to know her more. She was an omega, she was a little younger than me and she had been friends with Garth since they were pups. She was an orphan, and the pack took her in when they found her alone. She was really nice, and now seemed like a better time than later.

"Hey Amber, Would you like to go to the moonlight howl with me," I asked nervously.

"Hmm, let me think about it for a second, yes," she laughed. I smiled at her and she looked out to the setting sun.

"Well, it's getting late, I need to get back home," she said sadly.

"Yea, me too, hey, do you want to hang out again tommorrow," I asked.

"Sure, I'll meet you out by the caribou fields, once you finish your alpha duties," she yawned slightly and gave me a quick nuzzle before walking off towards the eatern pack.

"Garth, I really owe you one," I whispered before headnig off towards my own den.

***Lexus' POV***

I watched as Blackjack and Amber walked apart from each other. I let out a wicked grin as my plan began to unfold in my head. It was absolutely devious, and there hadn't been a single sign of Byron all day. This was going to be easier than I thought.

I walked quietly in the shadows, making sure to keep a fair distance away from Amber. She was just an omega, so taking her would have been easy, but I wasn't going to do that just yet. I figured since Blackjack took my world and shattered it, I would make his a complete living hell.

I waited outside Amber's den as the sun went down, and stayed there until I was sure she was asleep. Then, I waited on everyone else in the pack to slumber off as well. It was around midnight, and the moon was high in the sky, almost to its complete form. It was bright out, and staying hidden would be diffucult, but it was well woth the risk.

As I stepped inside the den I could see Amber sleeping as far away from the entrance as possible, but the den wasn't very large, so it was that far of a walk. I sat down quietly beside herand let out a devious smile. She looked so peaceful when she slept, which saddened me a small bit.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you. You've really grown since our last encounter. Just know that this is all for revenge on Blackjack, it is nothing personal, my sister,"


	9. Exposure

**Chapter 9: Exposure**

***Byron's POV***

It had been hours since I had last saw Lexus, and now the sun was going down. I cursed and looked over to my identicle. My twin sat a few feet away, yawning as the day drew to a close. He looked exactly like me in every way, and shared in my hunt for Lexus.

"Byron he could be anywhere by now, it's best if we wait until morning to continue," he said mimicing my voice.

"I know Haze, and you're probably right, but where in the hell could he have gone," I asked rhetorically.

"He's somewhere out there, but you and I both damn well know he won't try anything on Blackjack, not yet anyway," he replied.

"Maybe so, but still, not seeing him all day has me worried, and now that Blackjack is falling for someone, that's someone who Lexus can easily target. He can hurt Blackjack more with her than he can with anything else," I sighed. Haze just looked off at the rising moon without saying a thing.

"But how, you never explained to me why Lexus was so dangerous," he said finally. I sighed realizing he was right and decided now was the best time to explain it to him.

"He's a manipulator, he makes others believe what he wants by talking to them in their sleep. He can bring down an entire pack alone, simply by turning wolves against one another. That's what he's trying to do to this pack right now. He's trying to turn them against Blackjack, and so far he has Hutch. I fear he might do the same to Amber, if he succeeds it's all over," I explained.

"So then why doesn't he try that on us, or Blackjack," Haze asked.

"Because it doesn't work on us, that's why he is afraid of us. He can't turn us against one another, and he sure as hell can't fight us," I replied. Haze just nodded and kept staring out at the moon.

"Well, why is Blackjack so important anyway," he asked. I had been keeping that away from him for so long, and now that I was telling him all of this, there was no need in keeping it hidden any longer.

"Haze, Blackjack, he is our brother,"

***Blackjacks POV***

I finally slept well for once. I had someone to spend my free time with, someone I really liked. Someone who took my mind off the name Alexa. But something was bugging me. She certainly wasn't shy, and approached me without hesitation. So who in the world was following me all the time? One way or another I was going to find out, and I would find out soon.

As the sun rose on day three I stood and stretched as I did the day before and waited on my friends to arrive. I must've woken up earlier than I did the day before because the caribou hadn't even came out yet. I looked around at the valley and let out a happy sigh.

I started my way down the hill towards the hunting grounds when I smelled something terrible. I smelled around for a second trying to figure out what in the world it was. Then I found my unwanted answer.

"Ugh, I wreak," I grimmaced as I smelled my paw. I had no memory of my last bath, and since I had some free time, it was necesary I took one, and now. I went down to the nearest creek and tossed myself in without hesitation. The water was freezing cold, which woke me up really quick.

I looked down to paws and saw just how dirty I really was. They had faded into a dull grey, but as the water rushed past them they turned snow white. Clumps of dirt were flung from my sides and the deep black glow returned to my body. I felt lighter than I did before, and I dunked my head to clear it off as well. I shook around to make sure every bit of me was as clean as I could get it. I flung my head up from the creek to take a breath, I heard a giggle off to my side.

"Morning sunshine," Kate laughed. My face lit up and I dunked my body into the creek.

"Kate, I'm kind of taking a bath right now," I said trying to point out the obvious.

"So I can see, and I can also see you're in my spot," she giggled.

"I'm sorry, I was done anyway, hang on and I'll get out of your way," I said as I jumped back out of the water and shook dry.

"So how did things go with Amber," she asked. I raised an eyebrow and looked over at her.

"How did you know about that," I asked suspiciously.

"Garth told me," she replied smugly. Then something began bugging me. I was a bit nervous about asking it but I needed an answer.

"Hey Kate, have you had a feeling that someone is following you lately," I asked. She thought for a second but shook her head.

"I can't say that I have," she said frowning. I frowned and nodded, maybe it was just me. Maybe I was just imagining things.

"Well, I'll get out of here so you can bath, I'll wait down by the valley," I said as I walked off. I was begining to question my own sanity. There's no way Amber could have been following me for that long. She was way too friendly, and she was an omega, she couldn't have been following me. It had to be either my imagination running wild, or an alpha out to get me.

I layed down on the edge of the hunting grounds and watched as the wind rustled the grass ever so gently. The caribou had still yet to come out to graze, which it was still fairly early for a hunt, so I didn't think anything of it. It was nice and cool out, not to cool though, the perfect temperature. In a way it was relaxing.

Then I heard the footsteps again. They were comming up behind me ever so lightly. They were light, too light to be Garth, but heavier than Kate's. Whoever had been stalking me, this was them. I stayed perfectly still, trying to make myself seem oblivious to them. Then they stopped, and I took my chance to get my answer. As fast as I possibly could, I turned, and pounced.

The silver wolf sitting behind me jumped from fright and darted off away from me. I wasn't going to let him get away that easy, I chased him down. I ran off after him, swerving around rocks and jumping over logs. Whoever he was he was fast, almost too fast. He started to pull ahead of me, but I caught up to him, and eventually tackled him to the ground.

"Finally, I finally caught you," I panted with enjoyment. His bright blue eyes shined up at me stricken with fear, and yet they brought back a sense of familiarness. I knew this wolf, but from where.

"Blackjack let him go," I heard from behind me. I turned to see a wolf that looked exactly the same as the one I had pinned. Silver white fur and bright blue eyes.

"How do you know my name," I asked in shock.

"Don't you remember us," asked the one beneath me, his voice, like the rest of him, mimicing the other.

"No, I don't remember anything," I said nervously.

"Blackjack, it's us. You know, Haze and Byron," he asked hopefully as he stepped closer to me.

"Haze and Byron," I asked in confusion.

"Yes, Blackjack, we're your-"

"Brother, you're my brothers,"

***Hutch's POV***

I woke up in my den later than I normally did. Then again with no alpha duties to attend I didn't have a reason to wake up that early. I stood up slowly, still fairly weak from the attack. But I was recovering, and thanks to Sadie, faster than expected. I couldn't believe that she was actually going to the moonlight howl with me. I hadn't been this happy in years.

I walked outside of my den and sat down to look out into the winding trees. It wasn't the best view in the world, but the simple seclusion gave me solace, it was privacy, which was somewhat rare. I didn't want to sit around in my den and do nothing for the next couple days. Even the thought of hanging out with Blackjack seemed more and more realistic.

"Morning Hutch," Sadie giggled. I turned to see her and I smiled nistantly.

"Morning Sadie, and not to be rude but shouldn't you be attending your alpha duties," I asked rasing an eyebrow.

"I am, Eve wanted me to look after you until you got better," she replied smugly with a laugh as she sat down beside me. She rested her head on my shoulder and I layed mine on top of hers.

"Hey Hutch, you know Amber right," she asked.

"Yea, I remember her, what about her," I asked back.

"Well, I went to see her this morning, and she seemed really upset about something. She wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't look at me, and wouldn't listen to a word I said," she said starting to tear up. I nuzzled her and liked her cheek.

"Hey I'm sure she's alright," I said trying to comfort her. But what she said reminded me of what had happened to me. I didn't want to worry her by saying anything, but maybe someone was out to get us.

***Lexus' POV***

I smiled from my tree top as my plan began to unfold. It was an unfortunate sacrifice that I made, my own sister. But It was all neccesary to get revenge on Blackjack. He took my father from me, and I couldn't forgive that.

But with Amber now begining to see in my perspective, things were starting to fall into place. I would get back at him, and I would make sure he suffered for what he did. All of those years I went without my father, the many months I was left exposed to the elements.

"Tomorrow night Blackjack, that's when the real show begins," I laughed.


	10. Lit Fuse

**Chapter 10: Lit Fuse**

***Blackjacks POV***

"You two, you are my brothers," I said in shock. They were identical twins one year older than I was. I even remembered one from the other. Byron tackled me off of Haze and hugged me. Haze then piled on top of him.

"Blackjack, you remember us," they said simoulataneously.

"Yea, yea I remember," I said happily huggin them back. I honestly remembered them, I was so happy I could have cried.

"Blackjack, you have no idea how long we've been searching for you," Haze said so excitedly he was practically shaking. Then something occured to me, he ran from me, then again I did pounce at him and chase him down.

"Well, if that's true then why did you run when I chased you, why didn't you stop and explain," I asked. Their smiles faded and they looked down guiltily.

"Well, there's a couple reasons. When we finally found you, we overheard you saying that you couldn't remember anything, and so we were afraid to approach you," Byron started and Haze continued him.

"Plus once we found out _he _was after you, we thought it was best to stay back and keep you safe, at least until your memory came back,"

"Wow wait a second, who's _he_," I asked in confusion. The sheer emphasis of the word meant it was someone I must have known, but had forgotten.

"Oh, yea, you don't know that yet," Byron said shrugging uneasily.

"Know what," I asked growing more and more confused.

"Listen Blackjack, all you need to know is that someone is trying to get revenge on you for a completely justifiable action you committed," Haze studdered, hoping I would accept the answer, but I wouldn't.

"Ok, who is out to get me, and what did I do to make him so mad," I asked starting to get irritated. They just looked back and forth from one another to me for a minute, as if trying to come up with an excuse.

"Blackjack, some things are just meant to be forgotten. You probably wouldn't even believe us if we told you. Trust us, you really don't want to know," Byron said sternly.

"Please, I want to know how I got here, I want to know everything about my past," I argued.

"Some things are better left untold, now please, let it go," they both said raising their voices. I started to tear up, my own brothers were keeping things from me. Things that I needed to know.

"Isn't there anything at all you will tell me," I begged. They sighed and shook their heads.

"Your past is full of pain, pain that consumed you, pain you don't want to relive, please Blackjack, we're begging you, just let it go," Byron said softly, and sadly. It didn't make sense, why were they keeping this from me, what harm could it possibly do?

"Fine," I huffed and then walked off. I felt a little guilty walking away like that, but it made me angry.

"Blackjack please don't be mad at us, we're just trying to keep you safe," Haze said as he ran up beside me.

"Safe from what, my own memories," I shouted in anger.

"Blackjack, you did something that was terrible, but you had a right to do it. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you knew," he said, in a lower tone. It must have hurt him to hear me angry at him.

"So you're saying I'm better off without my memories, without knowing anything about who I am or where I'm from," I yelled, my anger was starting to get the better of me.

"Calm down, please, if we tell you anything at all it could jolt back your entire memory. Even the smallest detail could bring back everything," Byron said as he caught up with us, apparently alerted by my shouts.

"Maybe I want to know everything," I said turning away from them.

"Blackjack, we're sorry, but we just want you to suffer like you did before, just trust us," Haze pleaded. My anger finally flared, and I snapped.

"Trust you, why should I trust you, you've been staying hidden from me ever since I've been here, you ran from me when I tried to find out who you were, and you won't tell me a single thing about me. So why the hell should I trust you," I yelled. Haze broke into tears and ran off leaving me to face Byron alone, who wasn't too happy about my comment.

"Because we're your brothers, and we care about you. Maybe that hit on the head made you forget that," Byron said scornfully as he rushed off after Haze. I finally began to remember Haze as the more emotionally sensitive of the two, and realized that I shouldn't have raised my voice to him like that.

"Wow, I feel really bad right now," I said to myself.

"You should," I heard a beautiful and melodious voice call from behind me. It was Amber, and she didn't sound happy.

***Byron's POV***

"It's alright Haze, I gotcha," I told the poor sniveling lump under me. Haze never could take a comment like that light-heartedly. Out of the two of us, he was the more emotional, which made him pretty sensitive to stuff like that..

"Why can't we just tell him Byron, we both know he's in pain," Haze cried.

"Because he'd never be able to live with himself if he knew that he wiped out an entire pack and left the pups to die," I explained, still keeping my soft tone.

"Blackjack did what," semi-shouted a voice from the bushes. Haze jumped up and started to run but I stopped him. There was no use in hiding anymore, Blackjack would have exposed us anyway. I looked over to see the one they called Garth in pure shock.

"You heard me Garth," I said, trying to make it obvious that I knew he was there.

"How do you know my name," he asked nervously.

"You don't just stay around your little brother 24/7 and expect not to learn names," I replied smartly.

"Wait you're Blackjack's brothers," this was starting to feel like 20 questions.

"Yea, I'm Byron and this is my twin Haze," I introduced.

"Well, it's nice to meet you but, what were you saying about Blackjack killing an entire pack, he doesn't seem like the kind of wolf that would do that," Garth said as he finally approached us. I sighed and took a deep breath knowing he might not like the answer.

"A couple years ago, before he was moved here, Blackjack lived with a pack down south. He fell in love there with a wolf named Alexa, and they were about to become mates, but the entire pack was jumped by a group of rougue alphas. They killed everyone, and made Blackjack watch while they raped her, and then killed her. He was mortified, and just wondered aimlessly for days, until he came across the rougue alphas," I stopped knowing Haze would continue me.

"When he found them, he was so caught up in rage that he killed them all. What he didn't know, was that there were pups in that pack. Only one of them lived, and his name, was Lexus. Lexus is out to get revenge on Blackjack for killing his father, and for the past couple of days, we've been trying to run him out, but he is to determined to get revenge," Haze said. Garth's expression was mixed, it was confused, and sympathetic at the same time.

"So, you mean to tell me that Blackjack is being hunted by a wolf named Lexus, because he killed Lexu's entire pack," Garth asked with a tone that made me think he wasn't believing it.

"I know it sounds pretty rediculous for someone like Blackjack, but it's true. He did it to avenge his mate, that's all," I said, trying to keep him from getting the wrong idea.

"Garth have you found him yet," I heard a voice call through the forrest. Garth looked back nervously.

"Not yet Kate, I'll be back in a second," he called out. He looked to us and tryed to form an explanation, but I stopped him.

"Just go, we'll find Blackjack and explain the rest later," I said. Garth nodded and ran back the way he came. I looked at Haze and he had a disgusted look on his face.

"What's wrong," I asked.

"We just told him everything Blackjack wanted to know, and didn't even try to hold back anything," he said in a semi-angry tone.

"Look, we didn't want him to think Blackjack is a cold blooded murderer. They'd kick him out for sure, and probably even let Hutch get him," I explained trying to keep him calm.

"Why can't we just take him home already, like we're supposed to," he asked. I just sighed and thought about the question for a second.

"Because he likes it here, and unless I think he truely needs to come back, he can stay here,"

***Candu's POV* **

I yawned widely as the sun rolled into my den and woke me up. I was so late for my alpha duties it wasn't even funny, and I had a sense of humor. I jumped up and quickly stretched my legs. My sides felt a million times better than they had before since the attack. I just wanted to go back and hang out with my friends during my duties.

Hunting was first, as always. I made my way down to the grounds to find both Kate and Garth sitting down looking worried sick, but there was no sign of Blackjack. Tat was what concerned me the most. He had never been late before, and one time could be all it took to mess things up.

"Guys, where's Blackjack," I asked worridly.

"I don't know, he told me he was comming right over here, but when I got here, it didn't look like anyone had been here," Kate replied. Her voice was extremely shakey, the fear was still building inside of her and was about to explode.

"I haven't seen him either, not a single sign of him," Garth added, but something was different about the way he spoke. His ever so confident ovice had faltered, and he sounded more suspicious. He knew something, and he wasn't about to tell us.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," I encouraged.

"We'll just hunt when we get back," Garth added trying to make Kate feel better. She smiled and nodded.

"Right, let's go," she said still a little shakily. One way or another I would get Garth to tell me what he was hiding, and that was a promise.


	11. This Means War

**Chapter 11: This Means War**

***Blackjacks POV***

"Amber, what's wrong," I asked. The way she looked at me, it was like she was absolutely disgusted, it hurt.

"You know exactly what's wrong, we both know you killed them," she barked, with tears starting to roll down her face.

"No, I didn't kill anyone," I replied trying to comfort her. I stepped closer to her but she snapped at me.

"Keep away from me, you're nothing but a killer, and you'll always be a killer," she cried. Then, the flashback hit me. My head exploded with pain and my heart beat frantically. I dropped to the ground with my paws over my head as the memory poured in.

I remembered watching a group of rogue alphas who had no remorece for one another, or my mate. They killed her, and raped her, and so I made us even. I killed them all. Slaughtered them like caribou. Blood covered the forrest floor, and myself, and one of them tried to scurry away. I knew he was the one that raped Alexa, so I broke his legs, and left him on the railroad tracks. Then, what was truely going to haunt me forever happened. A small brown pup came bounding from the woods, and watched in horror as the train rolled by.

"Daddy NO," I heard him scream as the train ran over his parent. What did I do about it? I left him to die..

As the pain subsided and the flashback stopped, I stood up slowly, the haunting image plastered all over my head. I had killed an entire pack of wolves, and left the pup to die. Maybe what Byron and Haze had said was right. I didn't want to know that. I looked over to Alexa who was still crying, and had no idea what to say.

"Now you know," she sniffled.

"I-, I killed them, for revenge," I asked softly. She nodded slightly as more tears rolled down her muzzle.

"You're a monster," she mumbled through her cries. I felt light headed, and sick to my stomach. I was a killer, a murderer.

"Amber, I-"

"Just leave me alone Blackjack, I can't believe I actually liked you," she ran away from me instantly. I was left standing in my own tears. What had I done? I felt even worse now than I had before.

"Hurts doesn't it," I heard a laugh from behind me. I turned around to see a dark brown wolf glaring straight at me with a wicked grin on his face.

"You, what did you do to Amber," I growled. He laughed and walked towards me slowly.

"Poor little Blackjack, I only told her the truth," he laughed. I was so outraged I tackled him instantly. He gasped at my speed, but his smile didn't fade. I held my claws to his throat, but he wasn't impressed.

"You see what you do when you're angry, you're a killing machine," he kept up his irritating smile and sank his back claws into my stomach. The pain was so unbearable it caused me to lose my grip on him, and he kicked me straight into the air. I fell to the ground with a thud, blood pouring from my gut.

"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you," I growled in pain.

"What, are you going to break my legs and lay me on the train tracks," he growled as his claws sank into my side. My eyes widened and I yelped in pain. I rolled and dragged my own claws down his face, leaving a long gash all the way down his muzzle.

"You, you were that little pup, you're the one Byron and Haze were warning me about," I shouted as I stood up weakly.

"Yea, I am that little pup, but not anymore. I'm the most powerful alpha to ever live, and there's nothing you can do to stop me from ruining your life. Amber already hates you, and it wont stop there," he growled, it was as if my scratch hadn't even phased him. Blood was pouring from his face, as well from my stomach and sides. This fight had barely started and it was getting ugly.

"You're wrong, you might think that you can ruin my life, but you can't. I will stop you," I shouted as I rushed towards him, and he made no attempt to move. And that's when I was tackled by another wolf. I started to sink my claws into them, until I noticed who it was.

"Leave my brother alone," she shouted. My jaw dropped instantly.

' "Borther," I asked in confusion.

"That's right Blackjack, Amber is my sister," he laughed. Amber jumped off of me and ran over to him and started liking the blood from his face.

"Are you alright Lexus," she asked softly.

"I'm fine, but you're not," I watched in horror as he shoved his claws into her chest, leaving deep cuts all the way down her body.

"NO," I screamed as she fell over lifelessy. I was so enraged my vision was starting to go blurry, I was begining to lose all control.

"You mother fucker, I will kill you," I shouted as I rushed him. He rolled away carelessy and I slammed into a tree. Not even phased by the blow I turned to him and ran straight at him. Again he moved away before I landed a hit and I cursed.

"Dammit stop movnig," I barked. He laughed and kept taunting me, which only made me madder.

"She's already dead Blackjack, just give up. Learn your lesson for once," he laughed.

"She was your sister, and you killed her like she was nothing, and I loved her, I will not stop until you're dead," I shouted. I completely blacked out at that point, I was in an unstopable frenzy, of absolute hatred.

***Hutch's POV***

It felt good to be out and walking again, especially with Sadie by my side. I hadn't been out like that since I became Victorias mate. Sadie made me feel like my old self again, like I mattered. It was wonderful to have her by my side as we walked. Every now and then she would lean up against me and rub her head under my chin, or twist her tail with mine. I may have been five, but I felt no older than when me and Victoria met.

When I was near Sadie, my heart just fluttered. I loved her. She was just so cute and fun to be with. When I thought back on it, it was stupid of me not to hang out with her. We were the best of friends all through alpha school, inseperable. I didn't want to ever leave her side, and I knew she felt the same. Yet, even in her bright mood, I could tell something was wrong. She was worried about Amber.

"Amber will be alright Sadie, I promise," I told her. She sighed and rubbered her heard under mine.

"I want to believe you Hutch, but something just seems wrong, something is out of the ordinary," she said with an uneasy shrug. I started to say something but I heard something, it sounded like a moan of pain.

"Sadie, did you hear that," I asked. She nodded and we looked over to the area it came from. Someone was definately in a great deal of pain, but I couldn't tell who.

"Come on, we have to help them," Sadie said as she jumped ahead of me. I nodded nervously and followed. It wasn't a good idea for me to try and fight this soon after my injuries, but I wasn't about to sit back and let someone be hurt.

"I will not stop until you are dead," I heard Blackjack scream. That's when my heart really began to sink. I just knew I wasn't going to like what we found. I started to fall behind Sadie, growing weaker and weaker, I didn't need to be running. That was until I heard Sadie scream, and my adrenaline exploded.

***Candu's POV* **

"Did you guys hear that, it sounded like Sadie screaming," I said as my ears perked straight up.

"I heard it too," Garth added, looking over at the direction of the scream.

"Come on, lets go see what's wrong," Kate said as she jumped up and darted off towards the scream. Garth started to follow, but I stopped him.

"Candu what are you doing," he asked nervously.

"Listen, I know you're hiding something from us, now what is it," I asked.

"Candu now's not the time, Sadie could be in trouble," Garth argued.

"Kate can handle anything out there, now spill it," I ordered.

"Garth, Candu, get your sorry asses moving now," Kate screamed at us. I grit my teeth and looked at Garth.

"You're luck for now, but you're going to tell me what you're hiding," I said before catching up to Kate. Garth met up about a second later with anxiety written all over his face. Now I was certain he was hiding it intentionally.

Anyway, we ran towards the direction of the scream until we came across the gruesome sight. Blackjack was covered in blood, with a huge gash down his side, and one on his stomach. He was charging and blindly swinging at a dark brown wolf who had obtained a nice gash down his face. It was the same wolf who had attacked me and Hutch, Lexus.

But the worst part, was the golden orange mass of fur laying off to the side. Her chest had deep claw marks on it. She showed no sign of life. I heard Garth gasp and I looked over at him. His eyes were full of tears and he bounded out to her side.

"AMBER," he shouted. As soon as Lexus noticed us he rushed off through the bushes. Blackjack tried to run after him but two pure silver wolves jumped from the bushes and held him back.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, I'M GOING TO KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH," he screamed. The two wolves struggled to hold him back, and I recognized at least one of them, as thw wolf who rescued me and Hutch.

"Blackjack let him go, he'll kill you if you go after him," one of them screamed.

"FUCK YOU, HE KILLED AMBER, I LOVED HER, HE MUST DIE," Blackjack shouted in sheer anger. I didn't know anyone could ever get that mad. He was struggling as hard as he could to break free.

"Blackjack get ahold of yourself," the other screamed. Eventually Blackjack just stopped struggling and fell limp as he sobbed. The two wolves stayed near him trying to comfort him, but there was nothing they could do. I looked over to see Hutch standing beside Sadie, who was crying into his shoulder. To my surprise even Garth was crying, over the poor girl.

"What is going on here," I heard Winstons stern voice ask from behind us. I turned to see him and Tony walking towards us, with concerning expressions.

"Lexus killed Amber," Blackjack cried. His voice was so full of sorrow it was painful to hear. Both of their expressions changed to pure shock when they heard the news. Tony looked over at Garth and walked over to his side. Garth sobbed into Tony's shoulder.

Blackjack stood up slowly and wakled over to Amber. He liked her cheek and rubed his head under her chin. It was depressing to see him in that much pain. Kate had even pushed her head into Winstons chest for comfort. This was definately the darkest day in the packs history.

"I love you Amber," Blackjack cried.

"I- I love you too Blackjack,"


	12. The Demon Arises

**Chapter 12: The Demon Arises**

***Blackjacks POV***

"A-Amber," I said in total shock. Amber looked up weakly at me and smiled.

"Who else," she laughed slightly. I couldn't believe it, she was still alive. I looked down at the deep cuts on her chest and liked her cheek.

"Don't worry, you're going to be alright," I promised. I looked over at the others who were too stunned to speak.

"Come on, my den is the closest, someone go get Eve," I ordered as I lifted her onto my back. She was still bleeding pretty badly, I could feel it dripping down my back as I ran her to my den. Candu, Winston, and Kate must have went to get Eve, because they were the only ones not following me.

My vision was blurry from my tears, but I managed to get past most of the obstacles without slowing down. I could still hear Garth sniffling from behind me as I walked into my den and sat Amber down gently. She crigned a bit from the pain but other than that she acted like she was fine. But the cuts she held told a different story, she was hurt badly.

"Blackjack, I'm sorry. for what I said earlier," Amber said as tears started to roll off of her cheeks.

"Shh, don't wory about that right now, just try to rest," I pleaded licking her cheek again. She nodded slightly and layed her head down softly onto her paws. She closed her eyes as she did so, yet tears were still rolling down her muzzle.

"How did this happen," Garth asked as he cleared his face of all sorrow.

"Lexus, he did this, he made her my enemy, and then he betrayed her," I replied with anger. I was enraged at what he had done. It didn't matter what Byron or Haze did to stop me, I was going to kill him. And by this time I'm sure that Amber would completely agree with me. He may have been her only living relative, but he tried to kill her.

After a about a minute Eve came rushing in with more healers. We were forced outside so we didn't get in the way, despite both mine and Amber's pleas to let me stay. We waited down below the path to the den, and just sat in silence. Byron and Haze would occasionally look over at me. Which finally caused Hutch to speak up.

"Blackjack, who are those two," he asked a little edgy of them.

"That's Byron and Haze, they are identical twins, and my older brothers," I replied.

"Why are they here," Winston asked.

"To keep him safe from Lexus," they both replied.

"So you know what he is capable of," Tony chimed in. They both nodded and everyone looked at them in confusion. Well, almost everyone.

"Woah slow down, who is Lexus and why is he here," Kate asked. The two sighed and looked over at me.

"Go ahead, I already remembered it," I said guiltily.

"Well, a couple years ago, before Blackjack came here, he was with another pack, and was about to become mates with a wolf named Alexa," Byron stopped knowing Haze would continue.

"Tradgically the entire pack was murdered by a pack of rouge alphas. They captured Blackjack, and they made him watch while they raped Alexa, and then killed her,"

"Blackjack wondered around for days until he came across the alphas. Once he found them, he killed them all. What he didn't know was that one of the wolves he killed had a son,"

"That wolf grew up seeking revenge on Blackjack for killing his father. The unfortunate part is, those alphas were the founders of a dangerous technique. They named it 'Sleep-talking', because they talk to their victims in their sleep. It can completely change their perspective of things,"

"He already managed to do it to Hutch. Sure Hutch already disliked him, but he turned that dislike, into pure hatred. That's one of the reasone Hutch got so violent so quickly," it was incredible how Byron and Haze could communicate like that. It's like they knew what the other was giong to say before they even said it. But, it was too hard to be amazed. They were telling my friends that I was a killer, and I just knew it would ruin any chance I had at becoming friends with Hutch.

"I guess we were right Tony, it is exactly who we feared it was," Winston said finally. I guess it could have been worse.

"Wait, you know who this is dad," Kate asked. Winston sighed uneasily.

"We didn't know exactly who it was, but we did know about the pack, and their technique. I didn't want to believe that it was one of them, but my fears have been confirmed," Winston said looking over at Tony.

"At least we know he is the last one," Tony said as if it would contain some solace.

"No, there is another," I said gritting my teeth. They all looked over at me with curiosity.

"Who is the other," Garth asked.

"Amber," I replied.

***Lexus' POV***

"Dammit," I shouted as I slashed a tree. I knew that I had just fucked up everything. I made my move too soon, and too close to the others.

I wiped the blood from my muzzle and cursed at Blackjack. I wasn't expecting such sudden surge of anger like that. He was much stronger than I had anticipated, and slashing Amber didn't help weaken him at all. But I did learn something from the experience. The angrier he gets, the more straight forward his attacks are. He focusses more on head on attacks than planned out ones.

That, would play out to my advantage. Unfortunately, one wrong move, and his increased strength would rip me to shreds in a second. For now I couldn't do much besides sit back and wait for the right opportunity. Then, there was the most disturbing part of the entire operation. Both Byron and Haze were here, and together, those two are lethal.

I thought for sure it was just Byron here. How foolish I was to think he would leave his twin behind. Those two were inseperable. Now with Blackjack, they formed a trio that could probably never be beaten. Things definately were not turning out in my favor. I was hoping it would all be over quickly, but this would drag out far longer than anticipated.

"There has to be someone that I can use against him. I need at least one ally in this," I growled as I paced around. My mind was racing frantically, trying to think of someone who I could use.

'Why not just take him out in his sleep,' called a small voice. It wasn't from anyone in the physical world. It was a miniscule voice from inside my head that followed my slow setting insanity. The pure solitude had slowly driven me mad over the years.

"You're clearly not looking hard enough," the voice was absolutely bone-chilling. Even the air felt colder as the horrifying presence closed in on me. The air felt dark, and I grew sick to my stomach. What was this?

"Who are you," I demanded. The laugh that insued could have turned the air to pure ice it was so cold.

"Poor Lexus, so blissfully unaware of his protector," finally the wolf appeared, and it was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. His fur was a mix of black, crimson, and deep purple. His eyes were completely purple and looked like they had tiny souls floating around in them. His teeth were blood red, and I didn't want to know why.

"What the fuck are you," my voice grew shakey as he stepped closer to me. I backed up slowly from him, not wanting him to get too close.

"Do not be intimidated by my ghostly appearance Lexus, I'm still a mortal wolf," he laughed.

"The hell you are," I shouted.

"Lexus, I am your packs great defender, creator or the 'Sleep-talkers', the most powerful being in existance, my name, is Bane,"

***Byron's POV***

I felt a sudden chill in the air and shivered. There was something dark in the air, something that wasn't normal. I looked to the others to see if they showed any sign of feeling it too, but they were too worried about Amber to notice it. Don't get me wrong I was worried too, but this presence was too dark to ignore. It was terrifying.

"Haze, do you feel that," I whispered. Haze shivered as well and nodded in response.

"How could I miss it," he whispered back.

"This isn't good, we need to warn the others," I said.

"Not right now, they're worried enough as it is," he pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right, as soon as Amber's condition improves we have to tell them,"

"Can we be sure that it's him though,"

"There's nothing darker than him, who else could it be," Haze finally fell silent and sighed. I looked up to see a few of the packs healers carrying some blood stained herbs.

"I hope she's alright," Haze said aloud. I looked over to the others to see Winston and Tony had gone off, to where I didn't know. Probably to discuss the next plan of action.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Hutch said, trying to keep Sadie comforted.

"That Lexus is going to pay for this," Garth growled. I waited for Blackjack to agree with him, but he said nothing. He hadn't said anything since we told the others what had happened to him. I figured he was upset, so I decided to go try and keep him calm. I layed down beside him and looked straught at him.

"You alright Blackjack," I asked him lowly. He sniffled and I finally noticed he was crying.

"I'm fine," he replied. I shook my head and nuzzled him.

"Don't worry little brother, everything will be alright," I tried to cheer him up.

"What if the others hate me now, what if they think I'm a cold hearted killer," he said with a sniffle.

"They haven't said a thing to you Blackjack, and if they do, me and Haze are here to back you up. And, if things get too bad, we can take you home," his eyes shot wide open as I finished and he looked over at me.

"You mean, home, home? With mom and dad," he asked.

"Yeah, back to your real home," I replied. He finally let out a smile and nuzzled me. Finally Eve came back down and gave me and Haze a look that said 'You better explain this,' before she looked to everyone else.

"How is Amber," Blackjack asked. Eve sighed and shook her head, then let out a tiny smile.

"She is just fine,"


	13. I am Bane

**Chapter 13: I Am Bane**

***Bane's POV***

The life of a demon is one of constant destruction and sacrifice. A world in which all you will ever know is pain, and the pursuit of power. Power that consumes, a weapon that is nothing but true evil. That power, is what I founded in my youth. The power that would force mistrust among an entire pack. The art, of the 'Sleep-talkers'.

I founded this power to make the world my own. To control every pack that was to come before us, and destroy those who stood in our way, that was our goal. We had no adversaries, no opponents, nothing to stand in our way. But, there was a single force that would bring all of us to our fate. The all mighty hand of death would take his toll on all of the 'Sleep-talkers', including the great Bane.

But I was no fool. I made sure that in my last days, my three sons were taught the technique. Maxus, Kenta, and Hayden were their names. All spitting images of myself, sharing my dark purple fur and soul splitting golden eyes. I could rest easily knowing that they would pass on my dream, and the power I granted them.

Yet, I could not rest easily. My mortal soul was sent to the deepest bowels of a hell I couldn't have even dreamed of, and a demonic entity was my new form. For all of the deeds I had done as a mortal, I was forced into this life. To be damned for the rest of eternity. I would never rest well, but fate had other plans for me. My journey was far from being over, not by a long shot was I finished.

Ten years after my death, I was called upon by my great grandson Axel for protection. I arrived in the mortal world a completely changed form. My power was ten fold of what it was when I lived. The power of 'Sleep-talking' had went even further than it should have, and began to affect wolves who were wide awake. The voices weren't even my own, but millions of ghostly howls that would drive my foes to insanity within seconds of exposure.

All were affected, except for another 'Sleep-talker', and had it not been for that, the art would have ended there. Axel explained to me that Maxus and Kenta had died of old age, and their children murdered. Hayden was terrified of using the technique, and taught his children to be resistant of this most dangerous attack. But, there was nothing I could do, I was sworn to protect my children, only to attack those who were attacking them. So Hayden and his children lived.

For over a century the 'Sleep-talkers' knew the name Bane. I was always called upon to preserve their way of life, and I did so without haste. In doing so, I killed hundreds for the sake of my family, preserving their way of life and protecting the technique that I had sacrificed so much to create. There was however, one grandchild, I was less proud of. His name, was Dante.

I had once promised to myself that I would always care for my grandchildren no matter what. Dante, made me break that promise. He was always so damn reckless, and he never did appreciate the power of 'Sleep-talking'. His pack may have been all alphas, but they acted no better than omegas. They were an embarassment. The only good thing that he did was to pass on the family power to his son.

Then one day, something out of the ordinary happened. He gathered his entire pack, and he informed them that they were going to prove that the 'Sleep-talkers' were amazing fighters even without their power. They all were in agreeance on the idea, and so they went east in search of a victim. They found this in a smaller pack, that was just about to hold a mating ceremony.

This, is where I saw what had truely become of my fatal mistake that was over one hundred years old. His name, was Blackjack. The some odd great grandson to Hayden. I then saw what a foolish mistake I had made. By letting Hayden live, he had created a bloodline that was completely immune to the methods used by a 'Sleep-talker'. At the time I didn't know if he had any siblings, but that was not my concern at the time. As it turns out, it was going to be his wedding, and Dante was closing in.

Without any warning they sprung an attack. Four were killed within seconds, but they missed Blackjack. He made a hasty retreat to go protect the wolf he so desperately loved. He fought bravely for her, through his sheer strength alone I could tell he was my grandson. But, his strength did not last forever. Eventually he wore out, and they tackled him to the ground.

That's when Dante's true wickedness appeared. He let Blackjack live, but he proceeded to rape and then brutally murder his mate to be. Even by my standards ut was sick. But, I believe it was really more of a dignity thing. What he did was highly dishonorable, in my views. It was not the true act of a warrior, it was nothing more than a random act of violence.

I always remembered Hayden as the more cowardly of my sons. And I had always expected his children to be the same, but what I saw from Blackjack was anything but cowardly. He stood up to protect his mate, even if that mean his death.I figured that I would observe him for a little bit longer after Dante and his group of idiots left. For almost two full days he mourned Alexa's death, and even refused to leave her side.

Eventually he left her side, and he stumbled aimlessly through the woods. I had lost count of the days that he wondered. But I did notice that he didn't eat a single bite of food in that entire time span. It was kind of saddening to see one of my grand-kids to go through that much pain. That's when I got the most wickedly idea to kill two birds with one stone.

I led Blackjack to Dante and his pack. I sat back and watched as Blackjack got what he wanted, vengence. At the same time I got rid of that menacing Dante, putting an end to his reign of ignorance. However, there was one unseen detail. The young wolf named Lexus.

Now, there was something about that pup that was different. He reminded me of myself. He had a spark inside of him that drove him forward to survive. He had strength, intellegence, stamina, courage, and a willingness to do anything to get revenge on Blackjack. And who was I to deny him my presence. And I felt that now was the moment when he needed me the most.

"So, you led Blackjack to my father, and allowed him to die. Why," Lexus asked.

"Because your father was ignorant, he had no respect for the awesome power his ancestors bestowed upon him. Lexus, you are different. You have used the power of 'Sleep-talking' in the way it was intended, and even greater than I could have ever imagined. You are the greatest 'Sleep-talker to ever live since myself," I told him trying to manage a less bloody smile than what I was use to.

"And you want to help me kill Blackjack because," he asked sarcastically.

"His strength has grown too much, and he only uses his knowledge of 'Sleep-talking' to defend against it. As long as he lives, he will be a threat to you Lexus. I will not make the same mistake I made a century ago," I replied. I stepped up to him and placed my paw onto his shoulder.

"Lexus, you must be allowed to carry on the art of 'Sleep-talking', as well as the name Bane. Lexus, I will grant you the un-holy strength that I recieved upon death. Use it wisely," I closed my eyes and pressed my claws into his shoulder. He yelped in pain as my energy was forced into his body. He fell to the ground in pain and tried to pull free but I palnted my claws firmly.

"Please stop, it hurts," he screamed. I completely ignored his please and pushed half of my power into his body. I quickly retracted my claws and opened my eyes. Blood was pouring down his shoulder and tears of pain flowed down his muzzle.

"Fuck me this hurts," he yelled. He slammed his head against the ground and his fur began to shift in color. The brown slowly faded into a deep black that consumed his entire body. His chest and stomach grew lighter until it was purple, and his eyes turned to red. He let out one final scream in pain before he finally panted in relief.

"Lexus, you now contain more strength than any mortal wolf in the entire world. Your 'Sleep-talking' strength has grown ten-fold. You can now show your victims an event that they will concieve as reality. But I will warn you, the powers I have granted you will take a few days to fully settle to your body. I will come to you and let you know when you can attack once again. Until that time, you must stay out of this area," I explained as I slowly began to fade back to the underworld.

"Bane, thank you," he said with a quick bow.

"Lexus, prepare yourself for war," I let out my bloody smile and finally fell back to where I belonged. While I would await his strength to settle, I would allow mine to rebuild. The fight against Blackjack wasn't going to be easy, but I was prepared. All I could do was hope that Lexus would prepare himself.

"I am the symbol of death and protection. The most powerful entity in existance. I am Bane,"


	14. Surprises

**Chapter 14: Surprises**

***Blackjack's POV***

Once Eve said Amber was going to be fine I was elated. Nothing that anyone said would bring me down. I instantly rushed up to see her, but Eve stopped me. She said Amber was extremely weak, and needed to rest for a while before anyone could go check on her. But I offered to stand guard outside her den, and she allowed me to. I wanted to be the first person to see Amber when she woke up, and I would stand there as long as it took.

Byron and Haze started to come and join me but Winston and Tony re-apperared and took them aside, I guess they wanted to know more about them. Everyone else returned to their alpha duties except for Hutch and Sadie who continued their walk. But I didn't mind waiting alone, the quiet was nice and it gave me time to think. As I sat there something began to feel, out of the ordinary, something dark.

It gave me a chill down my spine and I shivered. I started to get light-headed but I just shook off the feeling. I just knew it had something to do with Lexus, it was too creepy not to. I hadn't even known him for five minutes and I already hated him. But for what he did, it was hard not to hate him. I didn't think making an enemy could be so easy, but then again I never thought something like this could happen. Then there was the whole reason he was doing this, I killed his family.

For some reason I started to think about what Byron had said. If things didn't work out here, he would take me home, to my real home. It was a very tempting offer, there wasn't a second that had went by that I hadn't thought about going home. Now I had a way to get back, back to where I was from. All I had to do was say the word and Byron would take me back. I guess I felt a little guilty for choosing not to go back. My parents were probably worried sick about me, but I liked it here. I had so many friends, and not to mention Amber.

It was difficult to decide what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay here with my friends and my love, but a part of me was curious to go back. It wanted to meet my parents and any friends I might have had before I got here. I guess that all of the time I had spent here was starting to influence my decision. Almost all of my memories I had were of this place, and I was begining to accept it as my home.

"Blackjack," I heard the weak Amber call from behind me. I looked into the den to see her laying down on her side with a strained smile on her face. I gave a half-hearted smile back to her and walked inside to check on her. It was painful to see her in such a pained condition.

"How are you feeling Amber," I asked her. I felt so stupid at the question, she obviously couldn't feel good after what had just happened.

"Been better," she replied smartly. It was relieving to see that she had kept up her sense of humor.

"I'm sorry about what happened back there, Lexus must really mean a lot to you," I said lowly.

"As if, I only protected him because he fucked with my mind. I hated that spoiled brat, that's why I ran away from home. He always got the special treatment," she replied harshly.

"Well, you can tell me about that later, you really need to rest," I insisted but she shook her head.

"That's why I called you in here, I can't get comfortable. Would you mind cuddling with me so I can get cozy," she asked sweetly. I couldn't help but blush and smile.

"Sure, I don't mind at all," I replied snuggling up beside her. She giggled slightly and rested her head back into my chest.

"Your fur is really soft," she whispered. I blushed even deeper and couldn't think of anything to do besides lick her cheek.

"Yours is too," I whispered back. I heard her giggle and she sighed happily.

"Hey Blackjack, I have a really big favor to ask of you," her tone was sort of shakey, like she was getting nervous.

"Go ahead," I said snuggling closer to her to make her feel safer.

"Well, the moonlight howl is the begining of the mating season, and this year will be my first year I can mate, so, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want you to mate with me for my first time,"

***Byron's POV***

"So you are certain that it was Lexus who attacked Amber," Winston asked for what seemed like the fifth time.

"If it wasn't Lexus I don't know who the hell it was. I am one-hundred percent certain it was Lexus," with irritation heavy in my tone.

"Well Winston, what do we do about him," Tony asked.

"The only thing we can do Tony. We watch for him and hope that we catch him before he can do anything to anyone else," Winston replied with a low sigh. I glanced over at Haze who was staring blankly at apparently nothing.

"Haze, you alright," I asked.

"Byron, its him," he seemed kind of zoned out and I started to get sort of worried.

"What do you mean, we know it's Lexus," I replied hoping to snap him out of whatever it was that was bugging him.

"No I mean it's _HIM_," he repeated putting heavy emphasis on the 'him'. My eyes widened and my jaw almost dropped.

"Oh shit," I said aloud.

"What is it," Winston asked me.

"I'm afraid the worst has happened," I said in shock.

"The 'Sleep-talker' guardian Bane has been released," Haze continued. Winston seemed oblivious to the danger but Tony knew very well what this meant.

"Please tell me you're joking," Tony said shivering.

"I wish I was, but I can feel dark energy right now. He must have finally shown himself to Lexus. God only knows what Bane will do to him," Haze said trying to regain some of his energy.

"Wait who's Bane," Winston asked trying to keep up with the speed of the discussion. Tony let out a slight sigh as he thought up his explanation.

"Bane was the first of the 'Sleep-talkers. He created the technique over a century ago and passed it on to his children. But to create this ability he had to practice it, and he did so on his family. When old age finally caught up to him he died a restless soul and his soul was transformed into a demonic entity. Now whenever his family faces iminent danger his demon arises to save them and allow his art to be passed on," Tony explained.

"His spirit still holds massive power from his youth. Not only can he use his technique on a sleeping victim, but someone who is fully awake," I continued for him.

"He's even rumored to be able to show you a reality you will conceive as real. He doesn't even need to speak to you, he can do it telepathically," Haze continued for me.

"So basically if he decides to fight, we might just be fucked," Tony said bluntly.

"What do you mean 'might be' if he's a demon then theirs no way to kill him," Winston questioned.

"The answer is Blackjack. He is the only wolf in the world that can kill Bane,"

***Candu's POV***

"Come on Garth you heard Eve, Amber's going to be fine," I said nudging Garth's shoulder. He had been gloomy all through our patrol and I was getting sick of it.

"I know Candu, but I've known Amber since we were pups and I've always been there to look out for her," he replied his tone still dark.

"Well Amber has Blackjack to look after her now. He's one of the strongest wolves I've ever seen, and I know he will fight for her until he dies," I couldn't tell, but it seemed like Garth was jealous.

"Yeah, Blackjack is a really good guy, maybe-" Garth practically froze in his tracks. I looked back to see what was wrong but before I could even turn my head around I felt it. It was dark, very dark, almost evil. It was like a thousand howls of pain were howling out at the same time. Pointlessly screaming for help that would never come.

"Candu, let's get the hell out of here," he said quickly.

"I couldn't agree more," I got a head start on him and ran away from the feeling as fast as I could. Whatever the hell it was, it was bad. Slowly the howls died down and the gut wrenching feeling went away. I was resiliant to slow down and finally stop, but I forced myself. I looked back to Garth who looked absolutely horrified.

"What the hell was that," he asked.

"I have no idea, but I'll guarentee it isn't good. We need to tell Winston and Tony," I replied turning away.

"You go tell them, I'll go see if Blackjack felt it,"


	15. Home

**Chapter 15: Home**

***Bastion's POV***

This had made the third time this past week that I had sat down and pushed away all the fears that were constantly pulling my mind apart. My sons, all three of them, were gone. Blackjack was the first to dissapear. He was just a pup when we lost him, I can still remember how much it hurt when he vanished. To this day I still wonder what cause him to venture off alone.

It wasn't like his personality at all. He was so friendly to everyone, even though he was just an omega I loved him no less or more than I loved his brothers Haze and Byron. My star pupils, the finest alpha's I had ever seen. I always entrusted them to watch their little brother, and they never complained. They loved playing with Blackjack, even though he could hardly keep up with their fast pace, he always enjoyed himself.

Something about Blackjack's wild dtermination really set him apart from the other omega's in our pack. If he set out to do something he was going to get it done. If you tried to stop him you were just waisting your time, because the seoncd you blink he'll be at it again. Punishing him was no good, if he wandered off too far there wasn't anything we could do to stop him from doing it again.

That was another of his attributes that was so different. He was so adventurous, any time he had the chance to explore he would jump at it no questions asked. Even at just a pups age he loved adventure. Since there was no stopping him I decided to tag along with him sometimes just to see where he went. One day he walked an entire circle around our packs entire territory five times just for adventures sake.

I sometimes think about what Blackjack would have been like as an alpha. Would he still have his same adventurous attitude, or would he be more like Byron and Haze. Well, those two acted more like omega's than he did sometimes. They never really took anything seriously, they liked to joke around a lot. But our pack leaders saw benefits to this. If everyone had fun, there would be no rift between alpha's and omega's, aside from strength. So it was natural to see a couple of alpha's pulling a prank.

But the relations between alpha's and omega's didn't end there. We wanted everyone in the pack to feel equal, no one was less important than someone else, so we let the two share meals. We didn't believe in letting alpha's eat first. They could share dens, talk regularly with one another, even become mates. However, not everyone was so enthusiastic about our methods. There were plenty of packs that frowned upon us for what we did.

Of course, knowing who I was and the things I was capable of doing was enough to deter even the strongest of packs. It was no secret that I was a 'Sleep-talker', everyone in our pack knew, and we wanted to make sure everyone in the other packs knew as well. I had learned the art from my father, who instructed me to never use it against an innocent wolf. At night he would tell me stories about a wolf who watched over our clan as a demon spirit, a wolf named Bane who had defended his children for centuries.

I never really believed the stories though. I thought that they were just little tales he made up just to scare me, so I never took them seriously. But, as I grew older, the stories turned more-so into lectures, and lessons. He taught me of the three original brothers who were the sons of Bane, one of which was our closest relative, Hayden. He created what came to be called 'Sleep-guardians', because instead of using the ability for what it was intended, it was used to defend from it. But that didn't mean I couldn't use it to its original designs.

I taught Byron and Haze exactly what my father taught me, so if they ever did run across a 'Sleep-talker', they could defend themselves from it. This was the most significant thing about Blackjack. I didn't have to teach him anything. It was like he had built up a natural resistance to it. As that thought occured, so did another, one that I had always pondered in my free time. My father had once told me that upon Haydens death bed, there would be a wolf born with a natural resistance to 'Sleep-talking', and that wolf alone, would be able to destroy the evilness of Bane.

The fact that it actually could have been Blackjack was exhilerating. My son would destroy what Bane sacrificed to create. All the pane that this deadly technique brought, could be stopped. At the same time though, that was just a legend, no one was certain whether or not it was actually true. As I finally started raking my thoughts together I shook my head. Thinking about my sons this much was causing me to grow tearful.

I lifted my head to look across the creek that I had been sitting by, only to see a brush covered clearing. I wasn't sure what I expected to see, but the empty sight caused me to sigh un-happily. I began to remember the day that Blackjack dissapeared, it was pure chaos. Everyone in the pack loved him, so there wasn't a soul that wasn't helping in the search. Days passed, and there was still no sign of the poor pup. Eventually, the search was called off, and we feared the worst had happened. But Byron and Haze refused to give up.

They constantly argued that he was still alive. They claimed that they could still 'feel him', but I was certain that they were just too heart-broken to accept his death. They begged for me to allow them to hunt for their precious brother, but I wouldn't allow them to leave. I didn't want to lose them too. It shouldn't have been much of a surprise when we woke up to find them missing as well. I knew that they went after Blackjack, and I never saw them again.

A gentle tear fell from the end of my muzzle and obscured my reflection in the water. As the image cleared I began to look at myself, it was a sight that I never paid much attention to, until I began to notice how much I had in common with my boys. My eyes were bright blue, as blue as the water that passed beneath me, they were relaxing and held their own source of comfort. My fur was jet black, which broken apart by streaks of grey, which were once white as snow. I remember in my youth I would bathe almost three times a day to keep the white as shiny and pure as I could.

But now, it didn't matter how often I bathed. My fur was slowly losing its luster, growing dimmer every day. My youth was gone, I was already about to turn eight and my children were practically fully grown. And lately, it felt like something important was happening. Something that I should be whitnessing. This day I had been thinking of my choldren so much, did it mean that maybe they were in trouble?

"Bastion," I heard someone call from behind me. The voice was light and shallow, but had a somewhat deeper kick than you would expect from the vocalist. I turned around to face him, the skinniest wolf I had ever known. Ira, he was so light on his feet he was like a feather. He was as slim and sleek as a hunters bullet, and easily as deadly.

"Ira, it's good to see you, how are you today," I asked him with the usual smile I gave him. He was around the age of the twins, but you couldn't tell it by looking at him, he looked hardly two.

"The high-council wanted me to come inform you that they wanted to see you," he said gloomily. He had been that way ever since Byron and Haze had left. They were his closest friends and he hated to lose them. I nodded slowly and started to walk past him.

"Ira, Byron and Haze are going to be fine, don't think they left because of _that_," I reassured him. He knew what I meant by _that_, he knew exactly what I meant.

It was something that I had never foresaw comming from Ira. He was always good friends with Byron and Haze, the three of them were almost never seen seperated from each other. What had happened occured almost two years ago, the exact day that the twins left to go find Blackjack. I remember how it played out like it was just yesterday.

But that was a story for another day. Right now I had to go see what the high-council wanted with me. Unlike most packs that went by a pack leader, our pack used a council made up of six wolves. Three alphas and three omegas ran the pack. They made all the important deisions that were necessary to keep the pack running. And they never made a single decision without clearing it over with me.

Sometimes I had been told that if it wasn't for me, the pack would be in complete chaos. It was true. No matter what they argued over, they always looked to me for the final decision. To be honest, if I was in their position, I would do the same thing. I didn't boast about it, but I had more wisdom and intelligence than anyone else in the pack, and everyone knew it.

The high-council always held meetings in a small clearing where a rock jutted up from the ground. The sat in a circle on that rock and would talk for hours about pack matters. It wasn't too often that they called upon me to help them, especially on days like today. Usually they would have given me a couple days to think, it must have been pretty important for such short notice.

As I approached them I could hear them chattering away, until they noticed me, and then they fell dead silent. They all turned their heads to look at me as I hopped up onto their rock and sat down, waiting for them to recognize me as a speaker. The silence was un-nerving, I wasn't use to them being so quiet.

"High-council, why have you summoned me on suck short notice," I asked aloud. About that time I noticed my mate Allison sitting in the center of the group with tears in her eyes. Her jet black fur glimmered in the sun and her sea-green eyes sparkled at me.

"Bastion, they've found our boys," she said happily. My jaw almost dropped and I was filled with joy.

"You've really found them, where are they," I asked excitedly.

"Bastion, your three sons are far east in a place called Jasper park. But that is not all, they are in great danger," they said. M excitement slowly died down when they mentioned danger.

"What do you mean," I asked. The tallest member of the council was an omega named Devin, and he looked me square in the eyes.

"Bastion, Bane has returned to kill your sons,"


	16. First Night

**Chapter 16: First Night**

***Byron's POV***

I stared out at the rising moon and sighed. Tommorrow night was the moonlight howl, and Haze was feeling down. He had been watching Blackjack and Amber almost all day. I felt so sorry for him, because tommorrow night was special for him. It was the anniversary of the day he found the love of his life. To be honest, when I found out, I was truely surprised.

What wasn't a surprise was the fact that he was sitting in the back of our small den bobbing quietly to himself. I couldn't really do much more than lay beside him and try to comfort him. He was constantly wiping his tears away on his paws and trying to muffle his sniffs. Every now and then he would lean over lean his head on my shoulder but it wasn't enough to keep him satisfied.

"Come on Haze, it's alright, we'll be able to go home soon," I reasured him. But he shook his head and continued to cry.

"But Byron, I want to see Ira so bad," he whispered to me. That's right, Haze was in love with one of our closest friends Ira, who was also a male, which made Haze gay, But I didn't care and I made sure to that no one said a thing to him about it. Every one was pretty shocked at first and was pretty resiliant to accept it, but eventually they all came around.

Our parents really surprised me the most. I expected the both of them to completely freak out when they leraned that Haze and Ira were together. Unfortunately, our dad found out the hard way. He was out for his daily walk when he came accross Haze and Ira, well, mating. I think he was more shocked about it than he was freaked out, because he never scolded Haze. Admittedly, I thought it was kind of funny because dad couldn't talk right for a week.

Haze felt so bad that our dad had to find out that way though. He was going to tell our parents later that day, as an aniversary gift to Ira, but I guess fate had other plans. Mom was fine with it and once dad could see straight again he admitted that he didn't mind it either. But for some reason Ira and Haze were still secretive about their relationship. Sure Ira would nuzzle Haze every now and then and Haze would return the favor, but that was as the most anyone had ever seen. I mean no one ever saw them do anything else, I guess they were just kind of shy about it.

"Haze, if you want, you can go back to the pack tommorrow, I can stay here and watch Blackjack myself," I offered. Haze looked up at me almost in shock by what I had said. The two of us had never been very far from one another. The only time we were really sepperated was when he was out with Ira, and that was still in the same pack. But him gonig back to our pack would mean that he would have to travel almost a hundred miles away.

"But, Byron, what if one of us is attacked, we can't fight sepperately," he said as his tears slowly started to dry up. I shrugged because I knew he was right. There was more than one reason that we didn't stray too far from one another, the main reason was the way we fought. We had both proven ourselves to be really bad fighters during alpha school, but when we were allowed to fight as a team, me and him never lost. Not even our teachers could keep up with us.

One of us would always hide in the shadows while the other stayed in plain sight. When we would be ambushed, whoever was hiding would be able to hit the attacker without them ever knowing they were there. We practically read each others thoughts, so we just worked in tandom to bring down whatever or whoever we needed to. We had both worked on our solo fighting, but to really do anything we needed to stay close. I needed a way to keep him happy, but I also needed to keep him close. Then I had an idea.

It was probably the dumbest, craziest, most insane thought I had ever had. It really made me sick to even think about it. But it was for my brother, so I was willing to do anything.

"Haze I'll be back in a second, I'm going to go get a drink of water. Why don't you try to get some rest," I said. He just yawmed widely and nodded in response. Almost the instant I left the den I could tell he was asleep. Which was what I needed him to do for my plan to work.

I walked down to the creek and sighed. I looked accross the creek and caught a glimpse of someone sitting there alone. I looked up to see Lilly sitting by himself, mumbling nervously, and crying slightly. I wanted to carry through with what I wanted to, but I couldn't let the poor girl just sit there. I stepped over the creek and approached her quietly.

"Lilly, what's wrong," I asked him as I sat down beside her. She sniffled and tried to hide her cries but I shook my head, "I know something is wrong Lilly,".

"Well, tommorrow is the moonlight howl, but it's also the start of the mating season, and, well, I don't want to mate with Garth," she admitted finally. My eyes widened slightly, but I wasn't too shocked. I mean, not that I didn't like the guy, but he irritated the hell out of me.

"Well, just tell him that you don't think you're ready for it," I replied. But she shook her head in protest.

"That's the problem, I am, just, not with him, I want to mate with someone else," she admitted as she started to blush. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and to be honest didn't like her tone either.

"Well, if not him, then who do you want to mate with," I asked as I started to grow nervous. I looked up at the moon and knew from it's positon that it was past midnight, which cause my heart to almost stop. Almost immediately a powerful scent filled my nose. I knew exactly what it was, and the second Lilly looked up at me I knew what she wanted.

"I want to mate with you Byron," she said seductively. I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist my own urges. I would wind up mating with her.

"Please Lilly, don't," I begged trying to back away from her. But she walked towards me with a seductive smile beaming at me. I turned to run but my paw caught a rock and I was sent slamming to the ground. I tried to get up and run but Lilly rolled me over and pinned me.

"Lilly, don't do this, what if Garth finds out," I threatened. But I don't think she cared. She rubbed her head under my chin and let out a cute giggle. Wait, did I say cute? oh god she was getting into my head. She was in heat big time, and she was going to mate with me whether I wanted to mate with her or not. She looked up at me and her violet eyes sparkled in the moonlight. I started to notice how beautiful she actually was. It was over, I wanted her.

I gave in, and I kissed her. She returned my kiss, letting my tongue invade her muzzle without resistance. My heart pounded away in my chest as I felt her crotch pass dangerously close to mine. She pulled away and quickly winked at me. She started to crawl off of me but stopped at my wolf-hood. She stuck her tongu out tauntingly before finally giving my crotch a nice long lick.

Her tongue felt amazing against my sheath. She licked all around my shath until my dick finally started to swell out. It was hardly even half way out before she sucked it into her muzzle and started sucking it violently. Oh my god she was amazing. She caused me to moan out loudly as her tongue ran all around my cock.

"Oh god Lilly, I'm not gonna last much longer if you keep that up," I moaned. I could hear her giggle as she continued to suck me off. My dick was now fully erect and she could hardly fit it in her mouth. My knott was still exposed, but she made sure her tongue gave it special attention. I arched my back as I felt my climax approaching. Harder and harder she sucked me, not letting up one bit. Finally I moaned loudly and she shoved every last inch of my dick into her mouth as my warm sperm splurted into her mouth.

She pulled her head back, letting my dick slide out of her mouth and she swallowed all of my cum. But she wasn't done with me yet, not by a long shot.

***Hutch's POV***

When I fell asleep, I didn't even think about the fact that the next day would dawn the start of the mating season. In fact, there wasn't really anything on my mind at all. I cuddled up next to Sadie and fell fast asleep in no time. That day we had spent every single minute together. The days we had spent together, were easily the best I had seen since Victoria. Then, I started to dream.

***Hutch's dream***

"Candu, did you hear, Victoria's pregnant," I said excitedly. Candu's face lit up and he just laughed happily.

"You lucky dog, congratulatgions man," he said bumping my side jokingly. I laughed and bumped him back.

"Hey Candu, I have to ask a favor of you," I said making my tone more serious.

"Anything Hutch," he replied.

"Candu, I want you to be my childrens godfather, if anything were to happen to me, I want to know that they're in good hands," his smile only grew wider and he nodded happily.

"Of course I will," he said happily. We walked side by side for a while heading back to my den and talked back and forth. We were hardly there when I heard the ear piercing shriek that changed my life forever.

"HUTCH HELP ME," it was Victoria screaming at the top of her lungs from our den. My body instantly shifted into overdrive and I sprinted back hime, with Candu close behind me. I didn't know what was wrong, but I was going to stop it. When I ran up to the entrance of my den my heart sank.

"Welcome home Hutch," Slade laughed from the back of the den. He was standing beside Victoria who was on the ground and bleeding badly. Her sides were practically torn open and not a spot of her body was clear of blood. My claws shot straight into the rocks below me and I dashed straight into Slade. I slammed him against the back of the den and I could hear his ribs crack from the impact.

"You fucking son of a bitch, I'll KILL YOU," I screamed as I sunk my claws into his stomach and slashed it open. He hardly so much as winced in pain before he fell over, his insides spilling out of his gut. I heard Victoria's shallow breathing and turned to her with tears in my eyes.

"Victoria, no," I walked over to her and nuzzled her. Tears flowed down my cheeks and I looked up at the frozen Candu.

"Candu, please get help," I said as my voice started to crakle. I was on the verge of balling my eyes out but I couldn't, not in front of her.

"Hutch," she managed to gasp out. My eyes widened and I liked her cheek letting her know I was there. Both of her eyes had been slashed, blinding her.

"I'm here baby, don't worry help is comming," I said as calmly as I could. I was nuzzled right up to her and could feel her blood pouring from her side. She was slowly dying.

"I'm dying H-Hutch, I'm n-not g-going to m-make it," she said as her breathing became shallower. My heart started to race and I started to cry even harder. It was taking help too long to get there, so I thought of only one thing to say.

"Victoria, I love you, and I always will, you and our family," I wanted to let her know that I loved her one last time. She was my entire life, and I was losing her right before my eyes.

"Hutch... I love you t-too, m-more than a-anything," she replied starting to shiver.

"I promise, everything will be alright," my tears started to burn and it finally became too much. I started to cry right in front of her. I sniffled and tried to wipe my tears away, but there were too many.

"Hutch, I'm c-cold," she said as she startedd to shiver. I knew that meant she had lost enough blood to start going into shock. I could hear the faint rustling of help approaching.

"Shhh, I got you, your safe in my arms," I cried as I wrapped my arm around her and held her closely. Her warm blood started to pour down my arms and she managed to pick up her head to rest it on mine.

"I will n-never f-f-forget you H-Hutch, I wi-will always be by yo-your side," she whispered too me. I cried even harder hoping that she could hold on just a little bit longer.

"Victoria, please stay with me," I begged holding her tightly in my arms.

"So, t-tired, m-must sleep," she said closing her eyes slowly. I could feel her breathing become deeper and slower, along with her beating heart. The sounds of help gre closer and closer until she took one last deep breath, and she was gone.

"Please Victoria NO,"

***Reality***

"NO," I screamed as I shot awake with sweat pouring down my body. Unfortunately I screamed loud enough to wake Sadie up, scaring her badly. I was breathing so heavily that all I could do was sit there and pant, trying to convince myself that it was all just a dream.

"Hutch, Hutch it's okay, it was just a bad dream," Sadie said confortingly as she nuzzled me. Tears were pouring down my face and I could almost feel the blood on my body. That was no dream, that was hell.

"Sadie, I never want to lose you like I lost her," I cried. She leaned her head into my chest and hummed soflty. Slowly I started to calm down, and I wiped away the tears from my face.

"Don't worry Hutch, you won't lose me," she whispered. I layed my head on top of hers and nuzzled her.

"I love you Sadie, I love you more than anyhting," I whispered.

"I love you too Hutch, and happy mating season," the next thing I knew the most intoxicating smell filled my nose. I smilled happily, and licked the top of her head.

"What do you say we get an early start," I asked. She blushed and giggled cutely.

"You'll be my first Hutch, be gentle,"


	17. Sympathy for The Demon

**Chapter 17: Sympathy for The Demon**

****Authors note- Chapter title and some speech was inspired by the song Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones, I do not own this song****

***Blackjack's POV***

Once more the sun rolled into my den and shined into my weary eyes. Normally I would have been less resiliant to wake up, but today was going to be too special for me to miss. No alpha duties for anyone, the first day of the mating season, and the moonlight howl at the end of it. I looked over at amber who was cuddled into my side and smiled at her.

I loved her more than anything, and couldn't wait to spend my entire day with her. Although I was admitedly nervous about mating with her, concidering her injuries, she insisted that she would be fine. Besides, who was I to depreive her of what she wanted, what I wanted. I had been thinking about what fatherhood meant, and I was ready for it.

The thought of having pups of my own excited me more than anything. I wanted to be there for them when they needed me, to hear them call me daddy. I thought back to the offer Byron had gave me, anytime I wanted I could go home. But now, it wasn't that simple anymore. I belonged here, with Amber, with my new friends, the only place I could call home, since I had lost my memory.

"Morning Blackjack," Amber giggled with her eyes still closed.

"How did you know I was awake," I asked as I liked her on the cheek. She smiled and nuzzled me.

"I didn't but I was going to wake you up anyway," she replied as she sat up slowly with a wide yawn. She shook her head and opened her beautiful brown eyes. She glimpsed at me and smiled before hopping happily to the edge of the den.

"Come one slow poke, I want to get something to eat before we mate," she giggled as she hopped down the stone path of my den. I blushed heavily and rushed to catch up with her. As I ran up behind her I caught a whiff of the most intoxicating smell I had ever experienced. My nose tingled as the wonderful aroma filled it and I had to resist the ugre to mount her right there.

Then, I began to smell something else. Something more sinister, it was the smell of death. I looked around nervously, feeling it draw closer and closer as we walked towards the pack. My heart raced and Amber quickly stopped, she smelled it too.

"What is that," she asked nervously.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," I replied nervously. I looked all around us but saw nothing, nor did I hear anything.

"Blackjack," whispered an ice cold voice from behind me. I turned around and caught a glimpse of our stalker. He was a hideous and terrifying sight. His fur was multi-colored between purple, black, and a deep blood like crimson. His eyes were completely purple and seemed to swirl. He gave me a bloody smile and bowed in front of me. He glanced to Amber and smiled wider.

"I am pleased to meet you, I hope you can guess my name," he laughed lowly as he raised from his bow.

"What are you," I asked stepping in front of Amber to protect her. He looked at me with a hurt expression, as if I truely had hurt his feelings, and shook his head. But I doubted I had actually made him sad, he didn't look like he was capable of feeling emotions.

"Why Blackjack I'm hurt, oh well, I suppose the rumors are true, I have been all but forgotten. No matter, Blackjack, do you know why I have come here," he spoke so casually, as though we had been friends for years. But I had never seen this monster before in my entire life.

"No, I don't," I replied calmly. I hoped that if I stayed calm and just played along he would be less likely to attack. He sighed and sat down softly.

"Blackjack, I must confess something," he said as his eyes swelled with what seemed like tears. As they started to roll down his cheeks they evaporated instantly into nothing. I hated to say it, but I actually felt sorry for him.

"Blackjack, I have granted some of my demonic powers to Lexus, and he plans to attack you soon. I would take back the powers, but it has been too long since I gave them to him, they have been fully absorbed into his body. You must stop him Blackjack," he said sorrowfully. I didn't know what it was about him, but he seemed pretty believable, but I couldn't be sure.

"Why are you telling me this, why should I believe you," I asked keeping Amber safely behind me.

"You have no need to fear me Blackjack, I am telling you this because I realized you and your brother Byron are my only chance of continuing my blood line. Lexus will never obtain a mate, and I vowed to protect my clan no matter what. And, if you succeed, I will grant you your memory back," he turned to walk away but I stopped him.

"Who are you," I asked with a shakey voice. He turned back to me and smiled.

"Please, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Bane, but you may call me grandpa," he laughed wickedly as his figure vanished into thin air.

"Hey Blackjack, you ok," Amber asked as though nothing had happened. I turned around to see that she was still walking towards the feeding grounds. I started to say something, but decided that it would be best if I just kept it to myself. Maybe Byron would know what to do.

"Yea, I'm fine, I just, thought I heard something," I lied as I rejoined her. What just happened, seemed so real, so vivid, or was I really losing my mind? No, I couldn't have, that Bane mentioned me and Byron by name, but not Haze. I desperately needed to talk to Byron, but I even more desperately wanted to mate.

As we approached the feeding grounds we saw all of the other couples sitting together and nuzzling one another. It was a very heartwarming sight to see everyone so at ease. Amber walked straight over to Kate and Humphrey and plopped down cheerfully. It took me a second to see it, but Garth was sitting by himself, with no sign of Lilly anywhere.

"Morning guys," Amber giggled happily. Humphrey and Kate smilled cheerfully and welcomed us. But Garth just gave a slightly rude grunt.

"Well someone slep on the wrong side of the den last night," Amber chuckled.

"For your information I didn't sleep at all. Me and Lilly had a fight last night and she stormed out on me," as soon as he mentioned Lilly, Kate started to growl aggressively.

"What did you do to my sister," she snapped. Garth looked at her angrily ad growled back.

"I didn't do anything,"

***Bastion's POV***

"Bane, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing for us," I said as he sat down in front of me. The two of us were secluded in the woods, no one knew where this spot was, and even if you did it was nearly impossible to get here.

"Think nothing of it Bastion, I'm merely doing this to conserve the clan. Once I saw that Lexus had no intentions of having children I knew that it was up to your children to pass on what I started. Besides, Lexus is too much like his father, he is too reckless," he said as he let out a slight smile.

"Would it be safe for me to go see them," I asked hopefully. Bane thought for a second and nodded.

"Yes, but only Byron and Haze. Blackjack is still missing a large part of his memories, and your appearance may jolt them all back at once. Which wouldn't be good for his brain," Bane warned and I frowned. Blackjack was the son I was hoping to see the most, but it would still be good to see my other boys.

"Fine, I will try and keep clear of him, but in the mean time, I want you to keep a close eye on my boys until I get there, just make sure they don't get into any trouble," I ordered. Bane nodded and with a toothy smile vanished into thin air. I nodded and jumped over the thick vegitation that secluded our meeting area from the rest of the forest. I couldn't wait to see my boys again, it had been so long since I had seen them, and just knowing that they were alive was thrilling.

I knew that Allison would want to join me on the journey, and I figured I would surprise Ira with it. I didn't want to think about what he and Haze would do since it was the mating season, nor did I want to know, but I did accept it because I loved my son. Ira was a good kid, he was almost like a son to me, but only because he had been around our den so much to see Haze.

"Bastion," called a voice from behind me. I turned to see a very upset Devin walking towards me.

"What is it," I asked irritably.

"The council knows about your little meetings with that demon," he growled. I had no need to try and lie about it, I could only explain myself.

"Devin, Bane may be a demon, but he is also the guardian of my clan, and I requested that he do his job and guard them," I turned to walk away but Gavin, an alpha of the council, was standing right in front of me.

"You have risked the lives of everyone in the pack for your own selfish desires, we do not appreciate that Bastion," Gavin growled. I growled back and stepped towards him angrily.

"Are you threatening me Gavin," I barked.

"No, we are not here to fight, but to tell you that your presence here, is no longer welome,"

***Byron's POV***

I awoke next to the small creek bed that I had fallen asleep in front of and yawned widely. I looked next to me to see Lilly cuddled next to me and my heart began to race. The reality of what happened last night came flooding back to me. I had sex with Lilly, and she was supposed to be Garth's mate. I tried to get up softly but I accidentally stood up too quickly, and nudged her awake. To my surprise, she shot a smile at me.

"Morning Byron," she giggled. She leaned up and licked my cheek softly and I had to resist the urge to smile back.

"Lilly, do you remember what happened last night," I asked hoping she didn't but unfortunately she nodded.

"You were the best Byron, and you're a hell of a lot bigger than Garth," she commented as she stood up to stretch.

"Lilly, why did you seduce me like that," I asked as my heart continued to pound away in my chest. She shifted nervously and I noticed that her hair was in front of her right eye.

"When I told Garth that I didn't want to mate with him, well, he didn't take it so well," she started looking around as if she were terrified.

"What do you mean," I asked taking a step toward her but she looked away from me. She swayed her head, moving her hair out of the way and then looked back to me. I gasped and my heart sank in my chest.

"I'm sorry for seducing you, I better go," she turned to walk off but I jumped in front of her.

"No, I'm not letting you go back to him. You're mine now," I said winking at her. She blushed and shoved her head into my chest as she started to cry. I wrapped my arms around her and held her closely. She looked up at me with tears heavy in her eyes.

"Thank you Byron," she cried. I smiled at her and lightly, kissed her black eye.


	18. Taking the News

**Chapter 18: Taking the News**

***Candu's POV***

First day of the mating season, my fith one. Every female in the entire pack was in heat, and my nose was driving me crazy. It was madness. The scent was killing me. I wanted to mate with someone, but I had no mate. It was kind of an embarrasing secret, but I never had been with anyone. Sure I had a few dates to the moonlight howl, but I never actually mated with anyone.

I told no one. Not even Hutch. I trusted him with everything, but not that. Every single mating season I was stuck pawing myself over and over, it was getting old. There weren't too many girls left that didn't have mates, and none of them ever talked to me. As I sat up in my den, the reality began to sink in that once more I would be playing with myself for another mating season.

First thing was first though, I needed to get something to drink. I made my way through the forrest to a small creek to quench my thirst, and maybe take a bath if no one was around. As I grew closer to my usual spot I heard someone crying, but I knew that someone, it was Lilly. I jumped quickly to see what was wrong, and my jaw dropped. She was wrapped in the arms of Byron. Then it hit me, he was trying to rape her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," I screamed at him. The two instantly jumped up and Lilly struggled to brush her hair in front of her eye for some reason. Byron stutterd nervously for a second but the calmed down once he noticed it was me.

"Oh it's just you Candu, listen, I know this looks bad, but it's not what you think," he spoke calmly and judging by Lilly's attempt to hide, he obviosly wasn't raping her. But I was still a little confused by what was going on.

"Then what is going on," I demanded. Byron sighed and started to say something but Lilly whimpered and started to shake her head.

"Lilly, it will be alright, Candu, if I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone else," he said as he nuzzled Lilly comfortingly.

"Fine, I swear, now tell me what this is," I said starting to get a little irritated.

"Here's the short versoin, Lilly refused to mate with Garth because she loves me, and Garth hit her for it," my heart stopped dead in my chest and all of my blood went cold. Lilly moved her hair just long enough for me to see her black eye.

"Oh my god, Garth did that to you," I asked in complete shock. Lilly nodded and pushed her hair back in front of her eye.

"Last night, the two of us, we mated, and I promised to keep her and our pups safe," Byron said stepping in front of her defensively. It was a lot to take in, and I wanted to rush right over to Winston and tell him what they just told me. But not only did I swear to keep my mouth shut, but I feared Eve's reaction.

"Please Candu, I don't want Garth to find out," Lilly begged. I sighed uneasily. I didn't want to know what would happen if Garth found out, but it probably wouldn't be good. I finally nodded, it was best I keep my mouth shut.

"Fine, but you have got to deal with this, you can't ignore it," they both smiled happily and nodded.

"We'll figure something out, don't worry," Byron said trying to reasure me that they would, but I wasn't so sure they could fix it that easily. Lilly cheated on Garth, but considering he hit her, he deserved it. They were lucky though, had it not been the mating season and my thoughts been clouded, things may have went differently. But my hormones were all screaming at me to fuck something, even if it was my own paw.

"Dammit," I muttered as I walked down-stream from them. I walked until I was sure I was out of earshot, and then looked down into the water. I leaned down and took a drink of the cold water, and even dunked my head down in it. It was so cool and refreshing that a quick dip even crossed my mind.

I figured it couldn't hurt anything. I slowly put my paw into the water and shivered as it instantly cooled off my paw. I closed my eyes and walked into the creek, sighing in relief as my entire body was enveloped in the water. The water was flowing past my body ever so gently, it felt so relaxing. I turned to face upstream, letting it flow past my body, and more importantly, between my legs.

"Shit, can't this wait until I get back to the den," I asked myself as the water messaged my sheath. Slowly my dick started to poke out and I shook my head.

"Guess not," I answered as I shoved my right paw between my legs and started to rub my sheath. I cupped my paw around it and started to stroke it. I rubbed it nice and slow as my cock continued to climb out and I let out a slight groan. It grew and grew until my knott slid out to reveal all 8 inches of my cock. I sighed as I wrapped my paw around it and really began to pick up speed.

I jerked it roughly and quickly, starting to pant as I did so. The cold water slid past my warm erection with every thrust only increasing the pleasure. Eventually I just stopped the jerking and started to hump my paw wildly. The smell that filled my nose grew stronger and stronger as I humpped faster and faster casuing water to splash wildly. I stumbled close to the edge of the creek to hold myself up as my climax approached.

"Ohh, fuck," I moaned as I continued to thrust away in my paw. My cock started to throb in my hand and pre-cum started to squirt out onto my paw. It was so warm in my paw and only made thrust even faster as my climax approached.

"Come on, almost there," I panted. I shut my eyes and groaned loudly as my cock throbbed in my hand as I humped one last time and the first white rope of seed splashed out into the creek. I sighed in pleasure as cum continued to squirt out. I panted heavily as the last of it sprayed out into the water and was washed away.

"Fuck yea," I panted. The smell grew even stronger in the air and seemed to be getting even closer. I started to panic, I didn't want to be caught standing in this creek masterbating. I opened my eyes to see if anyone was coming but then almsot gasped. There was a bright green set of eyes looking back at me, mere inches from my face. I could feel my face turn bright red with embarassment and I was too shocked to say or do anything.

"That was quite a show," she giggled as she licked my cheek sweetly. She pulled away and I finally got a good look at her. Her fur was very light brown, almost like sand. On her right cheek were three black specks arranged in a triangle. Her right front paw and back left paw were also black. She was absolutely adorable, and she just watched me jack off. I was absolutely speechless.

"What's the matter cutie pie, bear got your tongue," she giggled. I blushed again and tried to force a smile.

"I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean to do it in the middle of the forrest," I said appologetically.

"Aww, but then I would've missed it, I didn't say I disliked it now did I," she said seductively. "What's you name,".

"Candu," I replied shakily. She giggled and waved her crotch by my nose.

"I'm Misty,"

***Bastion's POV***

"Allison, Ira, are you two alright," I asked panting heavily. The two nodded as they panted as well. I sighed in relief and laid my head down to rest. We had been ran out, shunned for wanting to see our loved ones. I heard the thunder crack in the distance and I knew the storm was comming.

"Bastion, our home is gone," Allison said with tears growing in her eyes. I walked over to her and nuzzled her.

"It's alright baby, we can find a new home," I said kissing her on the head to comfort her.

"We should find somewhere to stay for tonight, that storm will be here soon," Ira sugested as thunder boomed once again.

"Yeah, come on Allison," I urged. She nodded with another sniff and the three of us began searching for a suitable den to stay in. Almost as soon as we started the rain began to drizzle down onto us, and the wind blew. The sky grew darker and darker until the sun was only a memory and the rain really picked up. The wind started to blow even harder, causing the trees to bow against it. Even walking forward was a struggle.

"Stick close together, we don't want to get seperated in this weather," I screamed over the raging storm.

"Look over there, would that cave work," Ira screamed and pointed towards the mountain. I looked over and saw a wide open cave that was raised off the ground just a little bit. It was convinient, a little too convinient. But there was no other sign of shelter anywhere.

"It will have to work, we don't have time to be picky," I replied as we pushed our way to the cave. The wind was picking up strength and the lightning was near blinding. Every boom of thunder was louder than a million hunter's shooting their rifles at once. The rain was the worst of it all. It was like an entire ocean was falling down on us at once.

We managed to push our way into the cave and sighed with relief. We were all soaking wet, but at least we were safe. Or, hypothetically we were. We didn't know who or what may already live in the cave, but whatever it was couldn't be nearly as bad as the storm. Surely three alphas could take on whatever could have lived in there.

"Looks like were not going anywhere until this storm lets up," I sighed looking out into the down-pour. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed into our make-shift den. We weren't going anywhere soon.

***Byron's POV***

I was worried sick. Candu had just found out Lilly was cheating on Garth with me, and not only that but he had abused her. He said he was going to keep quiet, but I wasn't one-hundred percent sure that he would. I needed some support, I needed both Haze and Blackjack on my side. I would eventually tell the others, but right now I needed someone to help justify my cause. Besides, I didn't want Garth dead yet.

Lilly went back to our den to tell Haze what had happened and I decided to go look for Blackjack. I decided to try the feeding grounds first, I figured someone there may have seen him drop by. As I drew closer I could hear an argument going on. It sounded like Kate was shouting at someone. As soon as Garth shouted back, I feared that they found out. I jumped through the bushes to see the two glaring down one another growling deeply.

"Well isn't this a lovely morning," I joked as I made my way over to the group. To my luck, Blackjack was among them.

"Byron have you seen Lilly anywhere," Kate asked me. I wanted to tell her that Lilly was at my den talking to Haze, but I didn't want Garth to know. So I decided to lie.

"No, I haven't seen her," I lied. Blackjack instantly looked over at me. He knew I was lying, but I wasn't about to explain here. "Actually I came here because I needed to talk to Blackjack,". I motioned for him to follow me and he nodded. I walked us way out of earshot of the others before he finally caught on.

"You know exactly where Lilly is don't you," he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I do," I replied.

"Then why didn't you tell the truth," I gulped and let out a sigh. He probably wasn't going to like this, but oh well.

"Because I mated with her," Blackjack went from calm to complete overreaction in a split second.

"WHAT," he barked in complete shock.

"Look, it's not what you think, she doesn't love Garth, she refused to mate with him, she wanted to mate with me," I tried to keep calm to prevent someone from overhearing us. Blackjack seemed to believe me, and he nodded. I could see the gears in his head working things out.

"Well, Garth did say they had an argument last night, and he said she stormed out on him," he said rhetorically.

"It was a little more than an argument, and she didn't storm out," I replied a little more shakliy.

"What do you mean, what happened," he asked sounding a little irritated.

"Well, Lilly refused to mate with Garth, so he hit her and gave her a black eye. So she ran out before he could hit her anymore," Blackjacks jaw almost hit the ground when I told him that. I thought for sure he was just going to explode.

"WHAT," he screamed again.

"Look, I have this under control, Lilly is back at my den telling Haze, and trust me, I will deal with Garth," I tried to keep him calm before he got out of control. The last thing I needed was him running off to tell everyone.

"Byron, you can't keep this a secret forever, one way or another someone will find out. I'm not giong to tell anyone, but only because it would ruin my time with Amber. Just please don't do anything stupid," Blackjack said as he walked off.

Well it could have went worse. At least he was on my side. He may not have taken the news as much as I would have liked him to, but at least he wasn't going to say anything. I just hoped Haze took it a little bit better than Blackjack did.

"WHAT," so much for that.


	19. Your Greatest Fantasy

**Chapter 19: Your Greatest Fantasy**

****Content of this chapter requested by dax0042. I hope you enjoy it****

***Blackjack's POV***

I didn't know whether to be furious, shocked, or confused. My brother had mated with Lilly. But even worse than that was the fact that Garth had actually hit her. It didn't make any sense, he didn't seem like the kind of person to get that violent. I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to believe it, but I saw Lilly's black eye, I had no choice but to believe it.

But, there was something else. I dind't want to admit it, but, I was jealous of him. Not so much that he had mated before I did, but that he mated wiith Lilly. I may have moved on and fell in love with Amber, but there was something about Lilly that made me want her. She reminded me too much of my first mate to be Alexa. Everything about them was exactly the same, I almost felt like I needed her.

The next thing I knew it was like all of the energy was drained from me. I went extremely light-headed and my vision started to get blurry. All of my limbs started to tingle and it started to get really hard to stand up. I stumbled over to a tree and leaned against it to try and regain my strength but I only kept getting weaker. I finally just fell to the ground and tried to save what energy I had left. I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath, but it was no good. I passed out right there.

By the time I woke up it must have been around midnight. The moon was high in the sky, sending a seemingly blue aura over the entire forrest. It took me a second to remember what had happened but by the time I did I started to wonder why no one had came looking for me. Most importantly, I wondered why Amber didn't come to find me. I could only hope she had went back to my den to wait on me.

Without even thinking about looking for anyone else I ran over to my den as fast as I could to see if she was there. The fact that I didn't see anyone around didn't exactly surprise me, considering it was the mating season. I just guessed that they were all in their dens 'enjoying' themselves. Strangely though, the first couple to cross my mind was Byron and Lilly.

Why couldn't I stop thinking about Lilly? I shook my head trying to get the thoughts of Lilly to vanish, but I couldn't. My den came into view, and I knew as soon as I saw Amber all of those thoughts for Lilly would go away. As I hurried up to the entrance of the den my nose tingled and I started to drool. Amber's heat was unbearable. My heart started to race and I figured the second I staepped in there she would be begging me to mate with her.

I jumped into the den expecting to see Amber there eagerly awaiting my arrival. To my surprise, I didn't see anyone. But that smell still filled my nose. Someone had to be in my den, but who. I could only see a couple feet in, so maybe they were hiding in the shadows. I heard a giggle echo through the den, and smiled. Amber was going to play hard to get eh?

"I know you're back there, why don't you come over here so we can have some fun," I said seductively as I stepped to the edge of the light. I heard the light footsteps approach me and prepared for Amber to tackle me.

"Why Blackjack I thought you'd never ask," the next thing I knew Lilly stepped out of the shadows and forced me into a kiss. I gasped as her lips connected to mine and she pushed me to the ground. She forced her tongue into my mouth and pressed her body against mine.

"Lilly, what are you-," I tried to argue but she made sure her lips never left mine. As much as I wanted to argue, I couldn't, I couldn't even bring myself to struggle. This, this was what I wanted. And she knew it. Her body pressed flat against mine and I could feel her crotch rubbing against me. That, plus the scent in my nose, drove me crazy, I wanted to mate with her, no, I wanted to fuck her.

"You know you want this Blackjack," Lilly whispered to me. She smiled at me and turned around, pretty much shoving her pussy in my face. One whiff of her scent, and any hope I had of struggling free was gone.

"Come here you," I wrapped my arms around her rear and pulled her pussy down and immediately started licking it. She yelped in surprise but then purred as my tongue penetrated her sweet pussy. I continued to ravish her pink folds as she started to return the favor, rubbing my sheath with her paw.

"You're so naughty Blackjack," she giggled as she continued to tease my dick. I explored every single inch of her pussy, enjoying the amazing sweet taste. About that same time she pretty much sucked my entire dick into her muzzle and started sucking it. I moaned in pleasure as her warm mouth wrapped around my cock and started shoving my tongue into her pussy.

My dick muffled her moan and she decided to show my how much she enjoyed it. She started bobbing her head up and down on my dick, pushing it deeper and deeper into her mouth with every thrust. Her lips couldn't even reach my knott but she tried to fit it in anyway. Her tongue slid all around my cock, giving me more pleasure than I could have imagined. I could hardly keep up with her. But I tried, I licked her pussy as fast as I could. She moaned loudly onto my cock and stopped sucking it.

"Oh god, I'm cummi-," before she could finish her hips bucked and she came all over my muzzle. I licked up her juices without a single word, they were extremely sweet.

"Lilly, that was awesome," I panted. She giggled and moved to let me stand up.

"You're a lot better than your brother, and a lot bigger," she giggled as she wiped her tail under my chin seductively.

"Well we're not done yet," I grinned at her as I moved behind her to mount her. I grabbed her hips and started to mount her, but I felt a cold chill and looked up to see a pair of golden eyes glaring straight at me.

"Oh shit," I gulped as Eve walked into my den. She glared at me evily giving me the feeling that I had death written all over my face. Before I could try and get off of Lilly she slammed into my chest and had me pinned to the ground. She looked me dead in the eyes and I just knew I was dead.

"Lilly, how dare you not offer to share with your mother," Eve purred. My jaw dropped and my heart must have skipped ten beats. Eve smiled at me seductively and pressed her lips against mine. I may have tried to struggle against Lilly, but I knew better than to struggle against Eve. But to be honest, I enjoyed it. I was surprised at how gentle she was, considering how violent she acted.

"What's the matter cutie," Eve giggled at me as she pulled away from the kiss. My brain was too busy trying to figure out if she had killed me and this was heaven or if this was actually happening to answer her.

"I-I just wasn't expecting that," I replied shakily. She smiled at me and licked my cheek.

"Don't worry dear, I'm not going to hurt you. Winston hasn't been able to please me in so long, I was hoping you could help me," she said sweetly. I was a bit skeptical though, I mean, don't get me wrong, Eve was pretty attractive, but it didn't feel right to mate with her.

"I don't know-," I started to object but she interrupted me with a quick kiss.

"And once you help me out, you can fuck Lilly all you want," she said a bit more aggressively. Again my jaw almost dropped, and so did Lilly's. "Does that sound fair to you Lilly," Eve asked.

"Definately," Lilly said excitedly. Eve smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm and looked back to me.

"Alright big boy, let's see what you've got," Eve cooed as she wiggled her way down to my dick, which was still pretty hard from Lilly's fun. Eve smiled up at me and kissed my dick. She wrapped her paw around it and licked up and down my shaft. Her tongue was even softer than Lilly's and even more pleasurable.

"I see where you get your skills Lilly," I moaned causing Lilly to blush brightly. Eve even giggled and started to suck on my dick.

"Oh, fuck yeah," I moaned as she shoved my entire dick in her muzzle. Including my knott. She sucked on it as hard as she could and bobbed her head up and down, a lot faster than what Lilly did.

"Oh shi- I can't hold it anymore," I moaned loudly and cum splattered from my dick into her muzzle. She smiled happily and gulped down every single bit of it, not letting a drop get away. I heard Lilly gasp and looked over to see her pawing herself.

"You're not done yet Blackjack, you've got to tie with me before you can have Lilly," Eve said sternly as she shoved her rear into my face. Her scent was even stonger than Lilly's and I jumped up to mount her without any kind of foreplay. I grabbed her hips and started humping wildly, my dick poking all around her hips. Until it finally found found her soft crotch.

The feeling was uncomparable, my hard throbbing dick slamming into her soft pussy. I grabbed her hips firmly and thrusted into her with every bit of my might. She let out a loud moan as I slammed into her and started thrusting in and out of her. I moaned as her tight pussy squeezed my dick. It was amazing.

"Yeah right there," she moaned as I fucked her. She squealed in delight as my knott pressed against her pussy and I struggled to push it in. She pushed back against me trying to force it until it thrusted into her.

"Fuck," I yelled as I continued to hump her.

"Faster," she shouted. I obliged happily and started to hump faster. My dick started to tingle and pre-cum was practically pouring out of my cock now. Then it happened.

"Oh fuck yeah," she screamed as we came together. I stood there still humping her as my cum filled her to the brim and her cum splattered onto my crotch. I panted heavily as I turned around to tie us together. We would be stuck there for a few mintues so we decided to lay down and rest for a while. I looked over at Eve who had a wide smile across her face.

"Good boy," Eve giggled. I smilled and laughed as my knott slowly swelled down. After about ten minutes it had decreased in size enough for me to pull out of Eve. I looked over at Lilly hopefully and Eve nodded.

"Go on," she whispered and I practically sprinted over to Lilly and mounted her. Lilly squealed happily as my cock found its mark a lot faster than Eve's, but not fast enough to keep my some pre from squirting onto her legs.

My dick was almost too big for her. She yelped as I tried to push it in and I tried to stop but she wouldn't let me. She kept pushing against me, trying to fit it all inside of her. So I just kept pushing my dick into her. She cringed in pain, but that quickly died away and gave way to pure pleasure.

"Yeah Blackjack fuck me hard," Lilly begged as I started to hump her as roughly as I humped Eve. She screamed in pleasure as I fucked her. I held her hips tightly as I started to hump faster and deeper. Eve decided to join back in the fun and layed in front of Lilly, letting her lick her pussy. Since my knott had swelled down it slid into Lilly easier than it did Eve, but once it was in it swelled up again, and wasn't budging an inch.

Again I came, filling Lilly with my seed. I sighed happily as I came in her and turned to tie us. As I started to lay down, I started to feel weird. It started getting harder to breath. I layed down was I had turned around, but the feeling that there were paws on my throat was unshakable. Everything around me started to slowly melt away, everything that had just happened, was fake?

The next thing I knew I shot awake, with something holding its paws on my throat. Instantly my adrenaline surged and I pushed it away from me and took a deep breathe. All I felt for some reason was pure anger. An intense rage that consumed me, whoever this wolf was had tried to kill me, and now, I wanted to kill him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you you sick son of a bitch," I screamed at it.

"What's the matter Blackjack, I showed you your greatest fantasy, I was going to let you die in peace. But I guess you don't deserve it," he laughed. That voice, it was-

"Lexus," I growled. But, it didn't look like Lexus. His fur was completely black, except for his underbelly, which was deep pruple. His eyes glowed deep red, and his growl was terrifying.

"Who else," he laughed. My anger started to get the best of me and I grew reckless. I wanted to rush him and tear his throat out for fucking with my mind. I grit my teeth and sunk my claws into the ground.I was shaking in rage and I looked up at him. His smile had vanished and turned to concern.

"I'LL KILL YOU," I shouted as I slammed into his chest and pinned him to the ground. I reared my claws back and started to slash him, but them I heard the scream. I heard Amber scream. Rage didn't come close to describing what I felt.

****Author's note to dax0042, I really hope you enjoyed the chapter, as well as everyone else, please R&R, remember, a little comment can go a long way****


	20. Reunions

**Chapter 20: Reunions**

***Blackjack's POV***

"BLACKJACK," Amber screamed in sheer terror. Lexus was in my clutches, but the scream was enough to distract me. Lexus vanished beneath me, but I dind't notice, by the time it even dawned on me that he was gone, I was rushing back to help Amber.

"I'M COMMING AMBER," I shouted back. I puhsed through the bushes, hitting rocks, but pushing through the pain to get to her. I knew I was getting close, I was practically right there at her. The next thing I knew I felt an immense pain in my chest. Everything started to spin, before I finally came to a stop.

"How dare you run off on me. It isn't very polite," I looked up to see Lexus blocking my path. I growled at him and leaped at him, but I wasn't quick enough. He countered and pinned me to the ground, pressing his claws to my throat.

"You son of a bitch get the fuck off of me," I growled trying to strugle free. He pressed his claws right against my throat and smiled sadistically.

"You're in no position to be arguing, no listen, listen to her pain," he let out a bloody grin and growled angrily.

"BLACKJACK PLEASE," Amber screamed as she started to cry. I growled and tried to kick Lexus off but he pressed me to the ground.

"I'M ALMO-" I tried to reply but Lexus snapped my muzzle shut. Amber screamed again and cried even harder. I felt so helpless, I tried and tried to struggle but Lexus wasn't budging.

"NO PLEASE STOP," she howled in pain. Hearing her screams hurt me. Knowing there wasn't a thing I could do to help her. I started to cry. Tears rolled down my cheeks, only making the experience even more enjoyable for Lexus.

"AHHHHhhh-" slowly her cries died down, then stopped all together. Lexus released my muzzle, but I didn't try to call for Amber, I knew it was over. My heart was shattered.

"Now you know my pain," he whispered to me. I looked up at him angrily and grit my teeth.

"Just kill me you son of a bitch," I cried.

"No, no you will live with the pain, for now," Lexus jumped off of me, but I just layed there. I wanted to die, Amber was gone. I looked over to see Lexus smiling at me, but he was gone.

"Blackjack, are you alright," that voice, it was, Amber? I looked over to see her walking straight towards me. Was I losing my mind?

"Amber," I said in excitemnt as I ran over and nuzzled her. She smiled and nuzzled me back but then looked at me worriedly.

"Blackjack are you alright, I heard you screaming," she asked with concern. I honestly didn't know what to tell her, so I decided to lie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just, hit my paw on a rock," I said nervously. She didn't really seem to buy it, but she moved on and started to rub her body against min seductively.

"So, what did your brother want to talk about," it didn't feel right lying to her, after all she was about to let me mate with her, but I couldn't let anyone know about that.

"Oh, nothing, just wanted to talk about the mating season," I lied. Again she didn't really buy into it, but she had other things on her mind. She waved her rear in front of my face, knowing exactly what it would do to me. One wiff and it was over, she had me under her control.

"Why don't we go back to the den and get started," she giggled.

***Candu's POV***

"Are you from around here Misty? I don't think I've ever seen you around," I asked as we walked side by side.

"No, well, not exactly. See, I'm not actually a full wolf, I'm part German Shepered. I just got tired of being treated like a pet, and I was never allowed to go out and play with the other dogs, so I ran off," she replied dropping her head. Oh great, an outsider, but I liked her, so maybe Hutch wouldn't be so aggressive. The fact that she wasn't fully wolf didn't exactly surprise me, she didn't seem very wolf-like in both appearance and attitude.

"Well, you certainly won't be treated like a pet out here, and don't worry about making friends, everyones friendly, well, most everyone anyway," I nudged her trying to keep her cheered up. She smiled and nudged me back.

"I already found the cutest mate in the world, what else could I ask for," she giggled. I blushed brightly and couldn't help but smile.

"Hey Candu, who's your friend," asked a cheerful Kate as she strooled up behind us. I turned and smiled at her, but Misty jumped behind me and whimpered.

"It's alright Misty this is my friend Kate," I said trying to keep her calm. Kate stopped and smiled at Misty sweetly.

"It's alright I won't hurt you," Kate said calmly. Misty kept her head down as she walked up beside me and leaned against me for comfort.

"H-Hi," Misty said nervously. Kate smilled happily and giggled.

"You're very beautiful Misty," Kate complimented. Misty blushed and smiled.

"T-thank you. S-so are you Kate," Misty said a little less nervous than before.

"Hey Kate, where's Humphrey, I'm sure he would like to meet Misty," I asked giving her an encouraging nudge.

"Oh, well we didn't want my mom to find out about us mating, so we're going to meet at this really private place he showed me," she replied with a slight blush. I blushed and looked away tying to hide it.

"I'm sorry I asked," I chuckled.

"C-could we come to," Misty asked. My eyes shot out of my head and my jaw hit the ground and started doing cartwheels. Kate blushed brightly but then smiled seductively.

"Sure,"

***Byron's POV***

"Calm down Haze, with the cercumstances Lilly had every right to leave him," I argued. But Haze just shook his head.

"But what if Garth finds out huh? He'll kill you," he snapped back.

"Come one, I have to protect her besides, Garth is scared of Blackjack, he wouldn't dare touch one of us," Haze finally stopped arguing and just fell silent. I looked over at Lilly who was laying her head down sadly. I walked over to her to see what was bothering her.

"What's wrong Lilly," I asked her softly. She sniffled and cuddled close to me.

"I feel so bad for all of this, I've made Haze so mad," she replied as a small tear rolled down her cheek. I licked it away and nuzzled her.

"Haze is just upset because he hasn't got to see his mate in a long time," I said trying to comfort her. It seemed to calm her down a bit and she nuzzled me back.

"Are you sure he's not mad at us," she asked.

"I'm positive," she let out a half-hearted smile and layed her head onto my paws.

"What's his mates name," she asked curiously. I shrugged and started to wish she hadn't asked that. I couldn't begin to imagine how she would react to knowing he was gay.

"Well, his mates name is-"

"IRA," Haze shouted excitedly, taking me completely off guard. I looked up at the entrance of the den to see Ira standing there smiling at us happily. Haze rushed over and tackled him to the ground in a hug, laughing with joy.

"Haze," that voice was one I hadn't heard in a long time. I didn't think it was possible.

"DAD," Haze cried even more happily as he rushed out of sight. Lilly looked at me in confusion. I could do no more than smile. I couldn't believe it, nothing better could have happened at that point. I stood up and motioned for Lilly to follow me. She stood, resiliantly, and walked close to me, almost like she was nervous about something.

"It's alright Lilly, they won't hurt you," I whispered.

"Who are they," she asked, still practically leaning on me.

"They're my parents," I replied happily. As we walked out of the den I looked upon the smiling faces of my parents, for the first time in years.

"Byron, we've missed you so much," my mom said as she rushed over and nuzzled me.

"I've missed you to mom," I replied nuzzling her back. Lilly backed up a little shyly and I laughed at her.

"It's alright, mom, dad, I'd like you to meet my mate Lilly," I said stepping aside to let them see Lilly who blushed. They both smiled and nodded to her.

"She's beautiful," my dad complimented.

"Thank you," Lilly giggled, lightening up a bit.

"Not to be rude, but how did you guys find us," Haze asked as he continued to nuzzle Ira. Mom looked away sadly and my dad sighed.

"Let's step inside, Haze, why not you and Ira go catch up," the two squealed like cubs and darted off. laughing playfully.

"Is something wrong dad," I asked worriedly.

"Byron, we've been kicked out of the pack," my heart sank. Our pack, kicked us out. I was practically speechless. I wished that I would have went with Haze and IRa.


	21. Trouble Brewing

**Chapter 21: Trouble Brewing**

***Lexus' POV***

I sighed boredly as i stared at my reflection in the small creek. My new body was perfect for me. It was lean, muscualr, and dark, with claws sharp enough to cut down trees. It was a thng of beauty. But I still wasn't ready to kill Blackjack. I was still outnumbered. I needed help badly.

"So this is the all mighty Lexus," laughed Bane from behind me. I turned around to see him sitting a few feet away with the same wicked grin on his face.

"Bane, why are you here," I asked nervously.

"What I can't drop in to say 'hi' every now and again," he laughed.

"I never said that, I'm just, uh, surprised to see you, is all," I replied with a nervous smile.

"I can see your nervous, and you should be, I didn't come on light terms," his smile faded and I gulped.

"Well, I hope it isn't too serious of an issue," I said trying to keep my confidence. He walked towards me which instantly drained any courage that I had found.

"Lexus, I'm going to give you a subtle warning, Bastion is with Blackjack. The entire ancestry of Hayden is together. If you attack them, you will die. Give up already. End your pursuit and join a pack, regain a normal life. I'll even make it easy on you and find a place that will accept you," what he wasy saying was doing something to me. It was, enraging me. He was going soft, he didn't think I could do it.

"And what if I don't," I argued.

"Then I will have to destroy you," he replied bluntly. I sighed and slowly nodded me head.

"Then I take it you will stop all of this," he asked. I nodded and looked away from him. He nodded with satisfaction and turned to walk away,"

"Come on, let's find you a pa-" his sentence was cut short by my claws sinking into his side. I gripped his throat in my jaws and he shouted in pain. Thick, black blood poured from his wounds as he tried to struggle free.

"Not if I destroy you first," I growled. He pushed me free and fell down from the pain.

"What the hell do you think your doing," he shouted.

"Solving a very annoying problem," I replied smartly as I charged him. He started to vanish into the mist but I raked my claws down his side, spliing even more blood. He stumbled away and tried to run but I pounced onto him, claing and biting him wildly. He didn't stand a chance. When the ordeal was over he glared at me with pure hate in his eyes.

"You little brat, I just wanted to help you and this is how you repay me?! Fine, I see how it is. But when You get killed, I'll see you in hell," he coughed up blood violently and grabbed at his chest in pain.

"Bane, you never should have betrayed me," I growled. I raised my paw and slammed it into his chest, litterally breaking his heart. I had killed him.

***Hutch's POV***

I walked happily back to my den where Sadie was waiting on me. Today was going great, I didn't have a care in the world. I was really starting to feel like myself again. I didn't even mind the thought of Blackjack being around anymore. As long as I had Sadie around nothing else really mattered. As I approached the den I noticed Winston sitting outside with a stern look on his face.

"Good afternoon sir," I said bowing respectively.

"I'm afraid you can't go inside yet Hutch, Eve is examaning Sadie and she requested that nobody goes inside," he said looking down at me with a smile.

"Yes sir, I will be patient then," I said sitting beside him.

"You know Hutch, Virctoria would be proud of you," he said looking over at me. I tried to smile, but only managed half of one.

"You don't think she would be upset with me for finding someone else," I asked. He shook his head and laughed slightly.

"Hutch, it's been two years, if she's upset with you for anything it's for taking so long to move on. She always wanted what was best for you, no matter what," he replied. I loved it when Winston gave me advice, I'd always saw him as a father.

"Oh Hutch, you can come in now" Eve called from inside my den. I smiled and eagerly jumped inside to see Eve sitting next to Sadie who had a bright smile on her face. I walked over to her and nuzzled her warmly.

"I'll just leave you two be for now," Eve chuckled as she walked out and rejoined Winston.

"How are you feeling Sadie," I asked curiously.

"Well, when I woke up this morning I was really sick, so I had Eve come and see what was wrong," she explained with a giggle.

"And what's the verdict," I asked laughing at her. She leaned over to me and nibbled my ear.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

***Blackjack's POV***

Me and Amber were both exhausted. We had just mated three times, each time the pleasure growing more intense. I looked over at her and licked her cheek, causing her to smile.

"That was amazing," she panted.

"It was the greatest thing I have ever felt," I added. She giggled and leaned her head onto my shoulder with a happy sigh.

"I love you Blackjack," she giggled.

"I love you too Amber," just as she licked my cheek, I started to feel light headed, somewhat weaker than before. What was going on?

***Bastion's POV***

I felt, weak. Like energy was being drained away from me. I stumbled to catch myself and gasped to catch my breath. Whatever just hit me, it was horrible. I didn't like it at all.

"Honey are you alright," Alison asked me kindly. I grunted as I regained my strength and coughed.

"I suppose, I really don't know what just came over me," I looked over at Byron who was stumbling and imagined he had felt it too. I knew that if both us had felt it Haze and Blackjack would be experiencing the same thing.

"What was that," Byron asked as Lilly jumped to his side looking worried.

"Something terrible has happened, I don't know what, but it was bad," I replied.

"How bad," Lilly asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that if we want to make it through it, we need to get Blackjack back to remembering things, and now,"

****Authors note- I just want to say I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry for taking this long to update. I've been so busy I haven't had any time at all to type. I really hope you guys will forgive me :'(. I won't even ask you to review this chapter just enjoy it ****


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